Distance and Democracy

Robert Talisse’s Civic Solitude: Why Democracy Needs Distance is provocative in insisting that more democracy in the form of increased mass political involvement is not the solution to what currently plagues American politics. The more difficult question is what that solution might be. This essay highlights areas where political theory and empirical studies of political behavior may diverge in their diagnoses, particularly with respect to Talisse’s characterization of the severity of polarization among the mass public. Additionally, in support of further development of the distance thesis, I summarize the many ways that psychological research on distance reinforces and extends Talisse’s arguments. A large body of empirical work confirms and clarifies the ways in which distance influences human thought processes. I conclude by emphasizing the need for novel solutions to a far more pressing issue, that of polarization among political elites.