Irrational Publics and the Fate of Democracy (McGill-Queen's Studies in the History of Ideas, 91)

by Stephen J.A. Ward

Across cultures, democracies struggle with intolerant groups, misinformation, social media conspiracies, and extreme populists. Egalitarian cultures cannot always withstand this swing towards the irrational. In Irrational Publics and the Fate of Democracy Stephen Ward combines history and evolutionary psychology for a comprehensive view of the problem, arguing that social irrationality is likely to occur when social tensions trigger a person’s enemy ancient extreme traits in human nature such as aggressiveness, desire for domination, paranoia of the other, and us-versus-them tribalism. Analyzing eruptions of public irrationality – from apocalyptic medieval crusades and Nazi doctors in extermination camps to suicidal cults – Ward presents his evolutionary theory of public irrationalism, demonstrating that human nature has both extreme Darwinian traits promoting competition and sociable traits of cooperation and empathy. The issue is which set of traits will be activated by the social ecology. Extreme traits, once adaptive when humans were hunter-gatherers, have become maladaptive and dangerous. Catalyzed by intolerant media and demagogues, the swing towards the irrational weakens democracy and may lead to human extinction through nuclear holocaust. Irrational Publics and the Fate of Democracy concludes with practical recommendations on what society should do to resist the engines of unreason within and without us.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics

464 pages, Paperback

Published October 15, 2024

About the author

Stephen J.A. Ward is an internationally recognized media ethicist whose writings and projects have influenced the development of the field in theory and practice. He is an educator, consultant, keynote speaker and award-winning author. Ward has extensive experience in media both academically and professionally. He resides in Madison, WI, USA. He is Distinguished Lecturer in Ethics at the School of Journalism, University of British Columbia and Courtesy Professor in the School of Journalism, University of Oregon. He is founding Director of the Center for Journalism Ethics, School of Journalism and Communication, University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is former director of the Graduate School of journalism, University of British Columbia. Most recently, he was interim director of the international Organization of News Ombudsmen.

Reviews

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite the mixed bag. When it comes Ward's ideas, its often 5 stars. When it comes to structuring a book, that's another thing entirely. Irrational Publics and the Fate of Democracy is a philosophical exploration of what makes people and publics act rationally or irrationally. This is a response to the current crisis we face as publics increasingly are acting irrationally, thus threatening democratic projects worldwide. Ward combines an exploration of history paired with evolutionary psychology to analyze what forces cause the pendulum to shift between rationality and irrationality.

This book consists of three parts that I did not find equal and thus will review each section. I disliked part 1 quite a bit other than the first chapter which served as an introduction of the book's thesis. I thought chapter 1 was great, but the rest of part 1 didn't fit. The remainder of it explored a personal-level history of the sawblade of rationality and irrationality. The main issue I had here was these histories focused way too much on art, which left discussions on science and philosophy lacking. Nowhere is this more emblematic than chapter 4, where he dedicates an outrageous 25 pages solely to Arnold Schoenberg. While art is certainly influenced by reality - regardless of how rational - it was entirely irrational to dedicate so much of the book to art history. I found chapters 2-5 to be a derailment to what could have made for a much more concise and readable book. 2 stars at most.

In part 2, he widens the scope to a similar history but for publics. This section was quite a bit better. These histories were much more important to the story for their parallels to today; particularly that of Nazi Germany. Once again however, the balance of content is off. There is way too much history without satisfactory psychological and behavioral analysis. The parts of section 2 where he does delve into those domains are very good, such as when he goes over the importance of paranoia as a driver of public irrationality. Depending on the chapter, I'd give this second section 3 or 4 stars.

Part 3 was the saving grace. While the shortest, it was exactly what I thought I'd be getting out of this book. Ward hits the evolutionary psychology hard, exploring the mechanisms that drive irrationality. My only critique here is that I wish there was more, particularly on the contribution that bias serves toward fostering irrationality. I also am not sure that part 3 should have come last. I felt it would have worked better after chapter 1. If that was the case, part 1 could have been omitted entirely, part 2 remain the same, and part 3 could have been applying these principles to today, which is something that he neglects in favor of focusing on history. As it stands, I'd give the final part 4 or 5 stars.

I judge books primarily by readability. It doesn't matter how good the content is if things like structure, word economy, and accessibility undermine its readability. I think Ward has some great insights here, especially in part 3. It's just unfortunate that the structure wasn't conducive to the best experience for me and I felt there were long sections where I wasn't getting much out of it.