Interactive Democracy

Interactive Democracy builds on Carol C. Gould's previous work by explaining how an interpersonal human rights framework can provide practical and realizable guidance for expanding the scope of democracy, deepening its responsiveness to people's basic needs, and realizing its core values of freedom, justice, and human dignity. The book's overarching aim is to address the failings of modern democracy by developing the philosophical underpinnings of a transformative politics described by the term ‘interactive democracy’. What is ‘interactive democracy’? The conception is not easy to unpack, and I will elaborate on various dimensions of it throughout this review. But some aspects are well illustrated by the book's cover art—a photo of an Occupy Wall Street occupation of Foley Square. ‘Occupy’ serves as a concrete example for how a cross-cutting movement might realize economic and social rights through an interactive form of political involvement based on a sense of solidarity over inequality. Moreover, it captures the way in which social media and global networks transmit new modes of deliberation in pursuit of justice. But whereas the millions of occupiers hoped to transform society through innovative forms of protest designed to pressure politicians, Gould looks beyond the familiar political system to the people themselves. Specifically, she looks to a social understanding of persons and its underlying connection to human rights; she analyses the emotional dispositions required for expanding justice beyond the nation state; and she examines various social activities within and among different societies. These three themes—human rights, the social basis of justice, and substantive forms of democracy—comprise the three parts of Interactive Democracy. The first develops a theoretical framework for thinking about democracy and its relation to justice; the second addresses the social roots of justice; and the last considers various forms of democratic participation suitable for emerging modes of social activity.

Deliberative democracy · Democracy · Dignity · Environmental ethics · Human rights · Law and economics · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Solidarity · Critical Theory and Philosophy · Law · Marxism and Critical Theory · Social Media and Politics

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