Part of the reason has to do with institutional incentives for democratic responsiveness: evidence suggests that representatives are most responsive to the preferences and concerns of the most affluent in society – a trend that would continue even if silent citizens were mobilized to vote (Bartels 2008 Gilens 2012 Gilens and 4). Citizens are steadily migrating away from traditional forms of participation, like voting, because they often fail to elicit responsiveness from elected representatives (Dalton 2007 Neblo et al. Of those who did not vote in the last election in the United States, a majority reported feeling that their elected representative did not speak for them (Blais, Singh, and Dumultrescu 2014).Ī second problem with standard interpretations of silent citizenship has to do with the changing character of political participation across the developed democracies. For example, silent citizens are more likely to favor government action on climate change, income inequality, universal healthcare, and public education (Bennett and Resnick 1990 Wlezien and Soroka 2011). ![]() The first is that empirical findings are split on its conclusion: in-depth studies of disadvantaged groups confirm that while silent citizens might decline to voice their preferences at the polls, they do have preferences and these differ substantially from those who vote and who get elected (Gilens 2009 Leighley and Nagler 2014 Page and Jacobs 2009 Standing 2011). Yet, while silent citizenship can and does indicate democratic deficits, three problems undermine the view that deficits are the only reason for silence in the developed democracies. Silent citizenship, on this predominant view, is evidence of a dangerous disconnection from democratic politics – one that is best solved by devising new ways to mobilize citizens' voices. The answer is almost entirely taken for granted in empirical and normative scholarship: silence indicates a lack of voice and a deficiency in democratic citizenship, a sign of citizens' exclusion from democratic politics through lack of opportunity, resources, confidence, or competence (Gray 2014). We ask: What does silent citizenship mean in a democracy? The goal of this special issue of Citizenship Studies is to investigate the relationship between silence and citizenship. ![]() The result is an underclass of silent citizens who are unaware of public issues, lack knowledge about public affairs, do not debate, deliberate, protest, or hold office, and, most fundamentally, do not exercise their voice in elections. And, when high levels of inequality persist, these feelings of marginalization are entrenched: the perception that the democratic process is unresponsive to the needs and concerns of vulnerable citizens reinforces their unwillingness to participate. Where levels of inequality are high, many citizens no longer feel that they have an effective voice in the democratic process. ![]() The aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis has seen a renewed focus on the costs of economic and political inequality for democracy.
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