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- Small Stuff Democracy
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- Michael Leland
You don't have to be a politician to have experience with
democracy. In fact you don't even have to go to the polls. Many
Americans spend their entire lives swimming in democratic concepts day in
and day out. As Michigan Radio's Tamar Charney reports as a culture our
sense of democracy is so ingrained that we look to voting and majority
rule in our everyday lives. Sometimes the decisions being made are
trivial, but the fact that we look to democratic principles in day-to-day
matters speaks volumes about our sense that it's a fair and effective
means of decision making.
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Piece Description
You don't have to be a politician to have experience with democracy. In fact you don't even have to go to the polls. Many Americans spend their entire lives swimming in democratic concepts day in and day out. As Michigan Radio's Tamar Charney reports as a culture our sense of democracy is so ingrained that we look to voting and majority rule in our everyday lives. Sometimes the decisions being made are trivial, but the fact that we look to democratic principles in day-to-day matters speaks volumes about our sense that it's a fair and effective means of decision making.
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2 Comments
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Review of Small Stuff DemocracyUnusual and interesting angle on how
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Of 6 purchasers of this piece...
Aaron Henkin
Posted on November 02, 2006 at 06:03 AM | Permalink
Review of Small Stuff Democracy
This piece from veteran Michigan Radio producer Tamar Charney explores a variety of spontaneous everyday moments, decision-making moments when we Americans unconsciously lean on our collective affection for basic democratic principles. Charney spends some time with a typical American family as they use 'majority rule' to make domestic decisions, and then the piece moves to an interesting interview with a grocery worker who expresses doubts about whether or not our votes really count.
The idea that we simultaneously trust the principles of democracy and distrust its application, that's the crux of this piece. Charney puts it succinctly when she says, "We vote characters off islands and pick the next American Idol using democratic principles, but we don't think it works for politics."
This is a thoughtful and nicely produced segment, especially for election season.