Collaborative Research: Democracy and Public Life in the United States and United Kingdom

Syracuse University, Syracuse NY

Investigators

Abstract

Public spaces of the city are often thought of in two contrasting ways -- as sites where people come together and forge a feeling of being a public or a community and as sites that are a bit scary or uncomfortable because behaviors of troublesome people are not controlled. Public spaces often are idealized as places where democratic communities can come together, making it possible to forge the bonds that enable debate and disagreement in a democracy. That ideal, however, is challenged by disorderly and disruptive acts. Sometimes these acts are overtly political, such as a protest or sit-in to draw attention to a particular issue. Other acts do not seem political, such as when a church offers food to homeless people outside its building or when a mosque broadcasts the call to prayer, but some people in the affected spaces may view these actions as disruption even as the churches go about what they see as acts that are central to their mission or their existence. This collaborative research project will examine the relationship between different kinds of disorder in public space, the quality of public life, and the potential for expanding the range of people included the democratic public. From this perspective, democracy is not a system of government so much as it is a set of relationships between people and institutions (e.g., government). In this sense, democracy is a process that is conditioned by norms, values, and expectations as to appropriate behaviors in different kinds of spaces. People are judged to be worthy of being included in the community or in "the democratic public" on the basis of their conformance with those social norms. The investigators will examine how the balance between order and disorder is maintained, how it shapes the quality of public life, and how this affects the quality of democracy. Sixteen case studies of conflicts in public space will be conducted in four cities: Berkeley, California, and Denver, Colorado, in the United States and Manchester, England, and Glasgow, Scotland, in the United Kingdom. Comparisons across cities are expected to reveal the roles local cultures and expectations of public behavior play in shaping how spaces are used and managed. Comparisons between countries ought to reveal the ways in which variations in national legal structures condition the kinds of conflicts that arise, the ways they are understood, and the strategies used in making claims on public spaces. The case studies will be developed using ethnographic methods and data to construct narratives of the conflicts. The narratives will combine data collected through intensive interviews, newspaper searches, government documents, and observations at the sites of the conflicts. By developing a spatially-sensitive analysis of the paradox of order and disorder in public space, this research will combine the results from the 16 case-studies to provide broader insights into how conflicts arise, how disorder is accommodated, and what strategies exist for managing public space. It also will reveal the complex sources of public life and democracy and assess the importance of difference and diversity to this, and it will help redefine the idea of "best practices" by showing the importance of local spatial and political cultures to processes of democratization. The project will provide education and training opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students. Research results will be made available beyond scholarly publications though the preparation of "white papers" on democracy and public life for each city and a documentary film on the Denver case study.