Democracy and Public Space This page intentionally left blank Democracy and Public Space
The Physical Sites of Democratic Performance
John R. Parkinson
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Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX26DP Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York # John Parkinson 2012 The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published 2012 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose the same condition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Library of Congress Control Number: 2011939862 Typeset by SPI Publisher Services, Pondicherry, India Printed in Great Britain on acid-free paper by MPG Books Group, Bodmin and King’s Lynn
ISBN 978–0–19–921456–3
13579108642 To my father, L. J. Parkinson, who started this;
Sarah Penelope Randall Parkinson, who was born half way through; and Thomas Henry Randall Parkinson, whose imminent arrival pushed me to finish. This page intentionally left blank Contents
Preface viii List of Figures xi List of Tables xiii
1. Introduction 1
Part I. The Theory of Democratic Public Space 2. Democratic Theory, Democratic Performance 23
3. Theorizing Public Space 49
4. Place and Politics 71
Part II. Public Space and Democratic Performance 5. Assemblies I: Performing Democratic Roles 93
6. Assemblies II: The Public and Accessibility 122
7. Protest and the Plaza: Engaging the Formal Public Sphere 146 8. The City as Representative Space 173
Part III. Evaluating Democratic Space 9. Conclusions and Implications 199
References 223 Index 239 Preface
This book started with a discussion with my father on a long drive across the centre of the Australian state of Victoria. Dad is a retired architect and archi- tectural historian, and we were arguing about whether democracy and great architecture went together. Initially, I contemplated writing something exploring that argument, but it is an argument that has been had many times in various contexts, and I had nothing particular to add to it. What I found instead was that issues of physical space and the built environment were largely off the agenda of democracy scholars – indeed, I found claims that physical space was unimportant in modern democracy, but felt that this could not be right. As someone who has lived in cities as diverse as Singapore, London, Hong Kong, Wellington, and Canberra, I was aware of the difference that spatial arrangements can make to people’s lives; and given the present spread of physical defences around state buildings and other public spaces, I became increasingly concerned that space for the expression of democratic rights and claims was being eroded in Western democracies. Although the initial discussion was far removed from these subsequent concerns, it was the spark that ignited the rest. So, thanks for an inspirational argument, Dad. Time to start thinking about these issues was provided by the University of York’s Anniversary Lectureship scheme. Part of what convinced me to pursue it was the critical but engaged and stimulating reception it received from friends and colleagues in the Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University – particular thanks to Geoff Brennan, John Dryzek, Bob Goodin, and Jeremy Shearmur. As usual, these contributors should be absolved of all blame for what follows. Further assistance came from a Small Research Grant from the British Acad- emy (SG 44244) which allowed me to visit more than a dozen cities around the world. In those cities I was met with great generosity by a group of organizations and individuals who include: