Democratic Deficits
Storyboard Text
- GOVT 3032
- DEMOCRATICDEFICITSas explained through a children's book
- By Caroline Harrison
- December 14, 2020
- The third grade class at Belle ShermanElementary School held a democratic election to decide who their class council representative would be. Both candidates read their policy proposals to the class.
- John's Policy Proposals1. 20 extra minutes of recess2. Math quizzes every other week (instead of every week)3, Fewer field trips4. More art supplies5. More flexible homewok deadlines
- Amy's Policy Proposals1. School day starts 10 minutes later2. More extra credit opportunities3, Students will have a say in where we go on field trips4. More funding for sports teams5. Fewer homework assignments
- The students then voted on which candidate they wanted to be their representative.
- My primary interest is having more free time, so I prefer John's policy of 20 extra minutes of recess.
- Also, I have neverreally thought about this issue before, but it might be nice to have less frequent math quizzes!
- I personally love field trips and am sad John would get rid of some of them, but that is not what will guide my vote.
- More art supplies AND more flexible homewok deadlines?Count me in!
- John's Policy Proposals1. 20 extra minutes of recess2. Math quizzes every other week (instead of every week)3, Fewer field trips4. More art supplies5. More flexible homewok deadlines
- Name: Sally
- JohnAmy
- Amy's Policy Proposals1. School day starts 10 minutes later2. More extra credit opportunities3, Students will have a say in where we go on field trips4. More funding for sports teams5. Fewer homework assignments
- John won themajority of the votes and became the third grade's class council representative.
- John's Policy Proposals1. 20 extra minutes of recess2. Math quizzes every other week (instead of every week)3, Fewer field trips4. More art supplies5. More flexible homewok deadlines
- Amy's Policy Proposals1. School day starts 10 minutes later2. More extra credit opportunities3, Students will have a say in where we go on field trips4. More funding for sports teams5. Fewer homework assignments
- John's Policy Proposals1. 20 extra minutes of recess2. Math quizzes every other week (instead of every week)3, Fewer field trips4. More art supplies5. More flexible homewok deadlines
- Amy's Policy Proposals1. School day starts 10 minutes later2. More extra credit opportunities3, Students will have a say in where we go on field trips4. More funding for sports teams5. Fewer homework assignments
- John took office and, over the next few months, began to enact his policies...
- DemocraticDeficit #1
- In line with the majority of your preferences, we will have 20 extra minutes of recess today!
- But we will also be getting out of school 20 minues later to compensate.
- Oh... I thought 20 extra minutes of recessmeant more free time
- After recess, the students went to math class
- Math Class
- Math Class
- I have graded your math quizzes. We will need toreview these topics...
- Math Class
- X
- 1. 7x 9 = 27 54 63 72
- Name: Sally
- F
- Now that each quiz covers double the amount ofinformation, it is harder for me to keep up with the material.
- I don't get it. I cast my vote for John based on myinterests, but I am not happy with the policy outcomes. How is that possible?
- Hi Sally! Allow me to introduce myself. I am a policy.
- The policy explained to Sally that there are democratic deficits in the policy process which limit the extent to which the policy outcomes that affect her and herclassmates are aligned with her interests.
- Both the lack of additional free time and your bad grade on the math quiz repesent the firstdemocratic deficit: Yourpolicy preferences wereunclear and unstable, so the policies did notactually further your interests.
- Your preference for 20 extra minutes ofrecess was an unclear preference, because this policy did not acutally align with your interest in having more free time.
- Your preference for lessfrequent math quizzes was an unstable preference, because you had not thought about this issue a lot before. If you had more information (forexample, statistics on how thefrequency of assessments impacts your grades), youyou would nothave supportedthis policy.
- DemocraticDeficit #2
- A few weeks later, John made an announcement duing homeroom.
- Math Class
- As I promised during mycampaign, the field trip to themuseum that was scheduled for next week will be cancelled.
- I was looking forward to that field trip...
- After homeroom, Sally and her classmates went to their science class. They learned about climate change and realized how important it was to do their part to save the planet.
- Math Class
- I wish our class had policies that would help us reduce our carbon footprint.
- My preferences for going on more field trips and forhaving policies that help our planet are clear and stable. Why am I still not happy with the policy outcomes?
- This is a result of thesecond democratic deficit: The election was only a blunt signal of your preferences.
- John ran on a variety issues, and you voted for him because you supported the majority of his policy proposals. However, John does not know which of his proposals you did not support, so he assumes your vote idicates support for all of his proposals, including decreasing the number of field trips.
- Furthermore, because you only vote for class council representaive at thebeginning of each school year, youcannot use elections to signal your new policy preferences that come up in the middle of the school year. Climate change was not on your mind before the election, so the candidates did not include the issue on their platforms. Therefore, John is unaware of your policy preference.
- DemocraticDeficit #3
- Third Grade Class Budget = $100Textbooks = $20 each Paintbrushes = $5 each
- John met with the faculty to decide how to spend the third grade class budget.
- Third Grade Class Budget = $100Textbooks = $20 each Paintbrushes = $20 each
- Ultimately it is up to you, John, and what you think is in your classmates' best interest, but I think we should use the fullbudget to buy 5 new textbooks.
- I also think that the textbooks are moreimportant than thepaintbrushes!
- I agree!
- I agree also!
- Let's get the textbooks!
- Third Grade Class Budget = $100Textbooks = $20 each Paintbrushes = $5 each
- My preference for more art suppplies is clear and stable and this preference wassignaled to John since it was one of the issues he ran on during the election. What is the problem now?
- This is a result of the thirddemocratic deficit:Elections are not always enough to hold John accountable to you and your classmates whenenacting policies.
- The preferences of the teachers conflicted with the preferences of you and your classmates. John should have represented yourpreferences, but the teachers have the power to give him good grades, so he represented their preferencesinstead.
- DemocraticDeficit #4
- Math Class
- In history class the next day, Sally's teacher reminded the class about theupcoming deadline for their assignment.
- Remember that yourhistory projects are due during class tomorrow.
- Homework: Project due tomorrow
- But Johnimplemented a policy to encourage moreflexible deadlines!
- This time, my preferences were clear, stable, and signaled to John through the election, AND John was held accountable to my preferences, thusimplementing this policy that aligns with my preferences. Why does the policy outcome still not support my interests?
- This is a result of the fourth and final democratic deficit: Even though John implemented this policy, there are still other actorsresponsible for successfulimplementation of the policy.
- Note: This solution is meant to representParticipatory Budgeting.
- Your teachers, not John, are the ones who choose your homework deadlines, and their interests are different than yours. They would rather have you all hand in the assignment at the same time, so they can grade them more efficiently.
- Learning about these democratic deficits is reallydiscouraging... willmy interests never be represented in policy outcomes?
- Don't be discouraged! It is important to recognize these democratic deficits, so you are aware of what steps you can take to help yourinterests be represeted in policy outcomes.
- So there is something I can do?!
- Yes! Deliberation and participation in the policy process are essential.
- Note: This solution is meant to representprocesses like Citizens Juries, Deliberative Polling, and Twenty First Century Town Meetings.
- You can meet with other members of your class in small groups to discuss and research policy issues. This can make your preferences more stable. You can even publish outcomes of yourdiscussions in the school newpaper to strengthen the communnication of your preferences to your electedrepresentative and increase theiraccountabiltiy since your preferences would be public!
- You can demand that students are given a portion of the class budget to allocate for themselves. This can help mitigateaccountabilityproblems.
- Note: This solution is meant to representEmpoweredParticipatory Governance.
- If you are willing to put in a greater deal of time and energy, you can collaborate with your teachers, John, and any other major policy actors to collectively think of ways to solve major policy problems. This can help to overcome resistence during the implementation stage and, therefore, can help ensure successful policy outcomes that align with popular interests.
- With her new knowledge of democratic deficits, Sally was able to overcome the failures of the democratic process and ensure that her interests and the interests of her classmates were better represented in the policy outcomes that affected the third grade class at Belle Sherman Elementary School.
- BibliographyFung, Archon. "Democratizing the Policy Process."In The Oxford Handbook of Public Policy, edited by Michael Moran, 667-84. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015.
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