Casting a new light on the democratic spectator. Issue 7 (3rd October 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Felicetti, Andrea
• Is Part Of: Democratization. Volume 29:Issue 7(2022)
• Page Start: 1291
• Page End: 1309
• Publication Date: 2022-10-03
• Subjects: Democracy -- spectatorship -- participation -- deliberation -- plebiscitarianism -- agonism; Democracy -- Periodicals; Economic history -- 1990- -- Periodicals; Democratization -- Periodicals; 321.8
• DOI: 10.1080/13510347.2022.2048818
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1351-0347

Abstract

ABSTRACT: The idea of citizens being mere spectators who "watch" politics is widespread in public and academic debates. Scholarship in relation to democratic theory tends to see spectatorship as a state in which citizens are politically uninterested, isolated, and passive. Although this understanding aptly captures the problems about the idea of spectatorship, it is only a partial awareness and prevents us from seeing that positive forms of spectatorship are also possible. I show that positive spectatorship occurs when citizens show an interest in one or more political problems and, together with others, strive to understand them better. I consider the distinctive elements of this form of spectatorship characterized by careful observance, relationality, and proactivity. I argue that it is normatively desirable, and I reflect on the ways in which positive spectatorship helps thinking about democratizing politics. Relatedly, I also revisit the theatrical metaphor of politics, which is often associated to the concept of spectatorship as something negative for democracy. I argue that, when combined with a proper understanding of spectatorship, the theatrical metaphor can be used originally to envisage ways forward in the democratization of our societies.