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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE A 21 st Century Defense of Participatory Democracy DISSERTATION submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In Political Science by Jason William Vick Dissertation Committee: Associate Professor Keith Topper, Chair Associate Professor Kevin Olson Associate Professor Daniel Brunstetter Professor Emeritus Carole Pateman, UCLA 2015 © 2015 Jason William Vick DEDICATION To My parents for their love, support, and example ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iv CURRICULUM VITAE vi ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION ix CHAPTER ONE: Introduction 1 CHAPTER TWO: Democracy's Contested Meaning: A Brief History 15 CHAPTER THREE: Dead and Buried or Alive and Well? Examples of 60 Participatory Democracy in the 21st Century CHAPTER FOUR: All Power to the Precariat: Can We Have a Democratic 99 Economy in the 21st Century? CHAPTER FIVE: Embracing Commonality without Erasing Difference: 141 Can We Have Democratic Community in the 21st Century? CHAPTER SIX: Conclusion 189 REFERENCES 193 iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS One incurs many grateful debts when embarking on a project such as this. I would like to thank my dissertation chair, Keith Topper, for his mentoring, support, careful reading and challenging questions, as well as his enthusiasm for the dissertation topic and my broader research agenda. In many ways this project began in a democratic theory seminar that Keith taught during my second year in graduate school and which marked the first time that I encountered a set of debates in contemporary political theory that swept me off my feet. Thanks also go to Daniel Brunstetter, who served as my advisor for several years and remained on my dissertation committee. Always a source of levelheaded and practical advice, Daniel helped me keep my feet on the ground while also pushing me in some unexpected directions in political theory. Thanks as well to Kevin Olson for thoughtful commentary on various papers and the dissertation itself. I would also like to thank Carole Pateman, for allowing me to take her excellent democratic theory seminar and for the dialogue and comments she has provided on my ideas and work. It is an honor to have such a thoughtful participatory democrat on my committee. Finally, thanks to a number of other UCI faculty who have met with me, taught seminars, read my work, or otherwise been helpful mentors, in particular, Etienne Balibar, David Easton, Cecelia Lynch, Shawn Rosenberg, and Annette Schlichter. Thanks as well to Mark Kaswan and John Medearis, who have each read and commented on dissertation chapters at various Western Political Science Association meetings. Thanks also go to the fellow panelists, chairs and discussants, audience members, and other conference participants who have listened, asked and answered questions, and engaged with me on our respective research projects. I should also thank Ilja Luciak, Scott Nelson, and Steve Daskal, the three professors who provided the most mentoring and support during my undergraduate years at Virginia Tech. Their early guidance was crucial in the path that I have taken. Thanks to Todd Gitlin for meeting with me to discuss participatory democracy and activism, in the 1960s and today. And a big thanks to Sheldon Wolin for meeting with me to discuss democratic theory and some of the major questions guiding this project. Wolin’s influence haunts every page of this manuscript. A number of fellow PhD students have had a lasting impact on my research and intellectual development and I owe much to the conversations, laughs, and beers that we have shared. We sat through and participated in many seminars together, traveled to conferences, read each other’s work, and talked through agreements and disagreements alike. These include Trevor Allen, Josh Gellers, Eric Mosinger, Lev Marder, Robert Nyenhuis, Graham Odell, Tanya Schwarz, Selena Lucent, Bron Tamulis, Tiffany Williams, and many others. My apologies to anyone who I have overlooked or not mentioned by name, for this list could be much longer. Thanks to Nicole for continuing to be a friend and great listener through everything. Thanks to Ryan Sauchelli for many hours spent discussing, celebrating, and lamenting all things political theory. Heartfelt thanks to Pat Epley and Matt Kroetch for helping to demonstrate how long-distance, long-term friendships can endure even after we have resettled across the country. I can’t put into words how much this means. iv Thanks to my wonderful grandparents who helped to raise me and set me down this path. And thanks to my sister Megan, whose creative gifts and artistic spirit are an inspiration and delight for all who know her. Thanks to Alyssa for love, warmth, laughter, and a whole lot of fun over the past year. And finally I would like to thank my parents, to whom this is dedicated. Without them none of this would have been possible. Their unfailing love, encouragement, careful listening, generous advice, proofreading, editing, and, especially, moral example, have sustained me through the ups and downs of life and a PhD. This dissertation is as much theirs as it is mine. v Jason Vick Department of Political Science University of California, Irvine 3151 Social Science Plaza A Irvine, CA 92697 (703) 946-4993 • [email protected] EDUCATION University of California, Irvine , School of Social Sciences, Irvine, CA December 2015 Ph.D. Political Science (Advanced to Candidacy March 2013) Virginia Tech , B.A. Political Science, Philosophy, Summa cum Laude ; GPA 3.83/4.00 (Upper-level GPA 3.95/4.00) May 2009 DISSERTATION A Twenty-First Century Defense of Participatory Democracy Committee: Keith Topper (chair), Kevin Olson, Daniel Brunstetter, Carole Pateman PUBLICATIONS Vick, Jason. “Putting Cruelty First: Liberal Penal Reform and the Rise of the Carceral State.” Social Justice , Vol. 42, Issue 1, 2015. Vick, Jason. “Participatory vs. Radical Democracy in the 21 st Century: Carole Pateman, Jacques Rancière, and Sheldon Wolin.” New Political Science , Vol. 37, Issue 2, 2015. Book Reviews Review of Tom Malleson, After Occupy. Contemporary Political Theory . Available online. HONORS AND AWARDS Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA. • Freshman Political Science Scholarship, 2005 • Athletics All Academic Team, 2006 • Dean’s List: Spring 2006, Fall 2006, Spring 2007, Fall 2007, Spring 2008, Fall 2009, Spring 2009 • William H. Williams Award, Philosophy Department, 2009 • Honor Societies: Phi Beta Kappa, 2009 University of California, Irvine . • Outstanding Teaching Award, Winter 2013 • Outstanding Teaching Award, Fall 2013 • Outstanding Teaching Award, Winter 2014 • Outstanding Teaching Award, Spring 2014 • Outstanding Teaching Award, Fall 2014 vi • Outstanding Teaching Award, Winter 2015 • Political Science Department Summer Research Award 2014 ($600) • Political Science Department Summer Research Award, 2013 ($1500) • Political Science Department Summer Research Award, 2011 ($500) TEACHING EXPERIENCE Cal Poly Pomona, Pomona, CA Fall 2015 Instructor , Political Science Courses Taught: Contemporary Political Thought—Democratic Theory (Fall 2015) University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA Sep. 2009-present Instructor, School of Social Sciences Courses Taught: Intro to Political Theory (summer 2014), Intro to Political Theory (summer 2013) Teaching Assistant , School of Social Sciences Courses Assisted: Ethics in the Age of Genocide and Terror, Computer Research in the Social Sciences, Human Rights in Foreign Policy, Intro to Political Theory, Prison Gangs, Intro to International Relations, Political Sociology, Just War Revisited, Micropolitics, Intro to Cultural Anthropology, Intro to Ethics. Includes grading papers and exams, conducting review sessions, proctoring tests, and personally teaching weekly discussion sections. Teaching Interests: Intro to Political Theory, American Political Thought, Contemporary Political Theory, Democratic Theory, Globalization, Ancient Political Theory, Modern Political Theory, Feminist Theory, Constitutional Law and Legal Theory, The 1960s, Continental Political Theory, Existentialism CONFERENCE ACTIVITIES AND PRESENTATIONS “All Power to the Precariat: Can We Have a Democratic Economy in the 21 st Century?” paper presented at the 2015 Western Political Science Association meeting, April 2-4, 2015, Las Vegas, Nevada. “Dead and Buried or Alive and Well? Examples of Participatory Democracy in the Twenty-First Century,” paper presented at the 2014 Western Political Science Association meeting, April 17-19, 2014, Seattle, Washington. “Dead and Buried or Alive and Well? Examples of Participatory Democracy in the Twenty-First Century,” paper presented at the Political Theory Lab, University of California, Irvine, April 7, 2014, Irvine, California. “Dead and Buried or Alive and Well? Examples of Participatory Democracy in the Twenty-First Century,” paper presented at the 2014 Midwest Political Science Association meeting, April 3-6, 2014, Chicago, Illinois. vii “Putting Cruelty First: Liberal Penal Reform and the Rise of the Carceral State,” paper presented at the 2013 Western Political Science Association meeting, March 28-30, 2013, Hollywood, California. “Participatory Democracy, Radical Democracy, and the Future of Democratic Theory,” paper presented at The Third Annual Radical Democracy Conference, March 16, 2013, The New School for Social Research. “Participatory Democracy, Radical Democracy, and the Future of Democratic Theory,” paper presented at the 2012 Western Political Science Association meeting, March 22-24,
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