Pragmatist Democracy

Drawing inspiration from the philosophy of Pragmatism, this book argues for a new “problem-solving democracy,” where public agencies build consent for public policy by engaging the public in active problem-solving. More so than legislatures, public agencies serve as linchpins between popular soverei...

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Huvudupphov: K. Ansell, Christopher
Materialtyp: Online
Språk:engelska
Utgiven: Oxford University Press 2026
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author K. Ansell, Christopher
author_browse K. Ansell, Christopher
author_facet K. Ansell, Christopher
author_sort K. Ansell, Christopher
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description Drawing inspiration from the philosophy of Pragmatism, this book argues for a new “problem-solving democracy,” where public agencies build consent for public policy by engaging the public in active problem-solving. More so than legislatures, public agencies serve as linchpins between popular sovereignty and on-the-ground governance. For pubic agencies to play a different role in democracy, we must re-imagine how they function as organizations and interact with the public. The Pragmatist philosophy associated with Charles Peirce, William James, John Dewey, George Herbert Mead provides a framework for re-imagining that role. Pragmatism advances an evolutionary, learning-oriented perspective that stresses problem-driven, reflexive, and deliberative public action. The book uses this evolutionary learning perspective to analyze how public agencies might overcome tensions between centralization and decentralization, engage in more strategic problem-solving, and facilitate collaborative governance among public stakeholders. In developing these arguments, the book builds on and extends the current revival of interest of the social sciences in Pragmatism, reinvigorating an overlooked tradition of Pragmatist institutionalism. By showing how Pragmatism’s evolutionary learning perspective can tackle issues at the heart of our current democratic malaise and engage the broad intellectual concerns of the social sciences, the book provides a concrete demonstration of why Pragmatism can serve as a powerful public philosophy.
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-1741582026-03-19T14:53:28Z Pragmatist Democracy K. Ansell, Christopher Pragmatism Public philosophy Institutionalism Public agencies Governance Learning Democracy thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPA Political science and theory thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTS Social and political philosophy Drawing inspiration from the philosophy of Pragmatism, this book argues for a new “problem-solving democracy,” where public agencies build consent for public policy by engaging the public in active problem-solving. More so than legislatures, public agencies serve as linchpins between popular sovereignty and on-the-ground governance. For pubic agencies to play a different role in democracy, we must re-imagine how they function as organizations and interact with the public. The Pragmatist philosophy associated with Charles Peirce, William James, John Dewey, George Herbert Mead provides a framework for re-imagining that role. Pragmatism advances an evolutionary, learning-oriented perspective that stresses problem-driven, reflexive, and deliberative public action. The book uses this evolutionary learning perspective to analyze how public agencies might overcome tensions between centralization and decentralization, engage in more strategic problem-solving, and facilitate collaborative governance among public stakeholders. In developing these arguments, the book builds on and extends the current revival of interest of the social sciences in Pragmatism, reinvigorating an overlooked tradition of Pragmatist institutionalism. By showing how Pragmatism’s evolutionary learning perspective can tackle issues at the heart of our current democratic malaise and engage the broad intellectual concerns of the social sciences, the book provides a concrete demonstration of why Pragmatism can serve as a powerful public philosophy. 2026-03-19T14:53:27Z 2026-03-19T14:53:27Z 2026-03-02T17:52:29Z 2011 book https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/110813 9780199772438 9780199918997 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/174158 eng open access image/jpeg Attribution 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/110813/1/9780199772438.pdf Oxford University Press 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199772438.001.0001 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199772438.001.0001 db4e319f-ca9f-449a-bcf2-37d7c6f885b1 9780199772438 9780199918997 296 New York, NY, United States open access
spellingShingle Pragmatism
Public philosophy
Institutionalism
Public agencies
Governance
Learning
Democracy
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPA Political science and theory
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTS Social and political philosophy
K. Ansell, Christopher
Pragmatist Democracy
title Pragmatist Democracy
title_full Pragmatist Democracy
title_fullStr Pragmatist Democracy
title_full_unstemmed Pragmatist Democracy
title_short Pragmatist Democracy
title_sort pragmatist democracy
topic Pragmatism
Public philosophy
Institutionalism
Public agencies
Governance
Learning
Democracy
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPA Political science and theory
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTS Social and political philosophy
topic_facet Pragmatism
Public philosophy
Institutionalism
Public agencies
Governance
Learning
Democracy
thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JP Politics and government::JPA Political science and theory
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QD Philosophy::QDT Topics in philosophy::QDTS Social and political philosophy
url https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/110813
work_keys_str_mv AT kansellchristopher pragmatistdemocracy