Democracy and Public Space: the Physical Sites of Democratic Performance

Democracy and Public Space This page intentionally left blank Democracy and Public Space The Physical Sites of Democratic Performance John R. Parkinson 1 3 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: in Ottawa: Marc Bosc and Robert Gaudette of the House of Commons; Heather Lank and Marysa Oueriemmi of the Senate; Pierre Dubé and Mark Kristmanson of the National Capital Commission; George Pollard of Preface Carleton University; plus Matt Behrens of Toronto Action for Social Change. in Washington, DC: Brett Anderson of the American University, who gave me a personal tour of the nooks and crannies of the city; Gael Murphy, Code Pink; Toni Griffin, District of Columbia; Julia Koster, National Capital Planning Commission; Joe Goldman and Carolyn Lukensmeyer of AmericaSpeaks; plus Setha Low, Columbia University; Michelle and Bill Hormuzdiar in New Haven; and the Sikorsky family in Minneapolis/St Paul. in Mexico City: Alejandra Moreno, City Centre Authority; René Cervera García, the Mayor’s Chief of Staff and Vidal Larenas of the city government; and the Department of Urban Development and Housing. in Santiago: the Morales family; Alfonso Donoso; and Alfonso’s rugby-mad friends during the 2007 World Cup quarter-finals. in Tokyo: Hiroshi Ota and Kaori Ito of Tokyo University and the Tokyo Picnic Club; and Yukio Maeda, Tokyo University. in Hong Kong: Peter Cheung at the University of Hong Kong; Richard Tsoi, Sha Tin District Councillor and convenor of the Power for Democracy group; Martin Lee QC and Patrick Lau, Legislative Councillors; and community activist Verdy Leung. in Wellington: the Rt Hon Margaret Wilson, Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives; Liz Mellish of the Wellington Tenths Trust; Gerald Blunt, Wellington City Council; Helena Catt, Chief Executive of the Electoral Commission; and Sandra Grey, Victoria University of Wellington. in Canberra: Neil Savery of the ACT Planning and Land Authority; Annabelle Pegrum and Andrew Smith of the Australian National Capital Authority; Hilary Penfold QC, head of Parliamentary Services; Sarah Miskin of the Parliamentary Library; Ann Jackson-Nakano; Simon Niemeyer and Kersty Hobson; plus Kim Dovey, University of Melbourne. in Cape Town: the people of the township of Langa, especially the Tsoga Environmental Resource Centre; the staff of the District Six Museum; Melanie Atwell, for another marvellous walking tour; Pat Hill, Cape Town City Councillor; Gideon Brand, City of Cape Town Council; and Ruben Govender, the Public Relations Unit of the South African Parliament. in London: Iain Borden of the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London; Muir Morton, Deputy Serjeant-at-Arms, House of Commons; the chair, members, and staff of the House of Lords Constitution Committee; and Sarah Gaventa of the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment. ix Preface in Athens: Manolis Polychronides, University of Athens, and his partner Jen, who took me from conservative to radical Athens and back again; Seraphim Seferiades, Panteion University; and Terrel Carver of the Political Studies Association who organized for me to be there. in Douglas: Sian Hoggett, who first alerted me to Tynwald Day, and her father Paul Hoggett, former Chief Constable and guide par excellence; Roger Carey, Isle of Man International Business School; and Roger Sims of the Manx Museum. in Appenzell: Charlotte Reinisch and Denise Traber of the University of Zürich, and the Ratschreiber of Canton Appenzell Inner-rhodes. There are others not named here because they preferred to remain anony- mous. My sincere thanks to them too, and to the dozens of unnamed people on park benches and street corners, on buses and trains, in queues and waiting rooms in every city who took the time to chat with me about the places they lived in or were passing through. I am grateful for permission to reprint material from the following: John Parkinson, 2009, ‘Symbolic representation in public space: capital cities, presence and memory’, Representation 45(1): 1–14, by permission of Taylor & Francis. In addition, numerous individuals and organizations have generously supplied photographs, which are credited in the text. My thanks to my former colleagues at York, especially members of the ever- incisive Theory Workshop, who helped dissect Part I in particular; to David Atwell for his assistance with the South African visit; and Simon Parker for guiding me into urban theory. Thanks also to my new colleagues at the University of Warwick who generously provided me with time to finish the production process. For their comments and criticisms I would also like to thank the organizers of, and participants in, the Representation and Democ- racy Symposium, University of Birmingham, and the Comparative Politics Workshop at Nuffield College Oxford, May 2007; the Democracy: Theory and Practice Conference, Manchester, November 2007; the Political Studies Association Conference, Swansea,

Load more