Elements of Communicative Democracy
From Internet: Knowledge and Community
Young proposes "three elements that a broader conception of communicative democracy requires in addition to critical argument: greeting, rhetoric, and storytelling." (Young 129) Furthermore, Young argues that these "communicative forms supplement argument by providing ways of speaking across difference in the absence of significant shared understanding."
With respect to "greeting" Gorgias plays on the human desire for flattery. A communication mode that leverages logical and motivational conditions of dialogue in an effort to recognize one another in their particularity. Young refers to this form of blandishment as a necessary prerequisite to deliberation. This is done in an effort to "speak across difference in the absence of significant shared understanding." (Young 129) Historically modes of communication have been personalized, for example the personal transmission of knowledge in the era of Socrates and even today via lectures, town halls, community association meetings etc. The use of "nonlinguistic gesture" helps frame the connotation of the message, in the absence of this central component of communication interlocutors must rely on the written word, which in many cases can be a poor form of communication. In this way I question the validity of meaningful commutative or deliberative democracy afforded by the internet. ICT as it exists today increases access but not he quality of discussion, as it affords private, individual consumption of information. Majoritarianism could benefit from the inception of information technologies insofar the internet affords a larger aggregate number of participants, but in its current iteration can it be leveraged effectively for deliberation?
