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Fast thinking: implications for democratic politics

Fast thinking: implications for democratic politics
Fast thinking: implications for democratic politics
A major programme of research on cognition has been built around the idea that human beings are frequently intuitive thinkers and that human intuition is imperfect. The modern marketing of politics and the time-poor position of many citizens suggests that ‘fast’, intuitive, thinking in many contemporary democracies is ubiquitous. This article explores the consequences that such fast thinking might have for the democratic practice of contemporary politics. Using focus groups with a range of demographic profiles, fast thinking about how politics works is stimulated and followed by a more reflective and collectively deliberative form of slow thinking among the same participants. A strong trajectory emerges consistently in all groups in that in fast thinking mode participants are noticeably more negative and dismissive about the workings of politics than when in slow thinking mode. A fast thinking focus among citizens may be good enough to underwrite mainstream political exchange, but at the cost of supporting a general negativity about politics and the way it works. Yet breaking the cycle of fast thinking – as advocated by deliberation theorists – might not be straightforward because of the grip of fast thinking. The fast/slow thinking distinction, if carefully used, offers valuable new insight into political science.
democracy, cognitive science, eliberation, anti-politics
0304-4130
3-21
Stoker, Gerry
209ba619-6a65-4bc1-9235-cba0d826bfd9
Hay, Colin
1dc2c1eb-c9bc-4f6a-ad7a-aa0038689217
Barr, Matthew
dc2a926d-a7b3-4a5f-9d49-92ee63f3a27e
Stoker, Gerry
209ba619-6a65-4bc1-9235-cba0d826bfd9
Hay, Colin
1dc2c1eb-c9bc-4f6a-ad7a-aa0038689217
Barr, Matthew
dc2a926d-a7b3-4a5f-9d49-92ee63f3a27e

Stoker, Gerry, Hay, Colin and Barr, Matthew (2016) Fast thinking: implications for democratic politics. European Journal of Political Research, 55 (1), 3-21. (doi:10.1111/1475-6765.12113).

Record type: Article

Abstract

A major programme of research on cognition has been built around the idea that human beings are frequently intuitive thinkers and that human intuition is imperfect. The modern marketing of politics and the time-poor position of many citizens suggests that ‘fast’, intuitive, thinking in many contemporary democracies is ubiquitous. This article explores the consequences that such fast thinking might have for the democratic practice of contemporary politics. Using focus groups with a range of demographic profiles, fast thinking about how politics works is stimulated and followed by a more reflective and collectively deliberative form of slow thinking among the same participants. A strong trajectory emerges consistently in all groups in that in fast thinking mode participants are noticeably more negative and dismissive about the workings of politics than when in slow thinking mode. A fast thinking focus among citizens may be good enough to underwrite mainstream political exchange, but at the cost of supporting a general negativity about politics and the way it works. Yet breaking the cycle of fast thinking – as advocated by deliberation theorists – might not be straightforward because of the grip of fast thinking. The fast/slow thinking distinction, if carefully used, offers valuable new insight into political science.

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e-pub ahead of print date: 24 September 2015
Published date: February 2016
Keywords: democracy, cognitive science, eliberation, anti-politics
Organisations: Social Sciences

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 390465
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/390465
ISSN: 0304-4130
PURE UUID: 08206fb6-b6cb-4dff-9081-92ae44af8a6e
ORCID for Gerry Stoker: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-8172-3395

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 04 Apr 2016 08:43
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 05:27

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Contributors

Author: Gerry Stoker ORCID iD
Author: Colin Hay
Author: Matthew Barr

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