Democracy Despite Government: African American Parading and Democratic Theory The authors would like to thank Michael E. Morrell for his comments on an earlier version of this article, presented at the New England Political Science Association Meeting, and Vassar College for research funds that enabled trips to New Orleans. View all notes

摘要

This article engages a double exploration of the political meanings of African American parading in New Orleans and the significance of those meanings for understandings of democracy, especially those theories that look beyond elective representative democracy and aim, even under existing conditions of inequality, to include all voices. African Americans in New Orleans have a long tradition of parading that lays claim to public streets for pleasure, articulations of community, modes of remembrance, and protest. In parading, residents craft a public sphere for cultural, social, and political expression and fashion the streets into a distinctive, relatively egalitarian public square that exists regardless of and sometimes in opposition to the government and its formal, institutionally political spheres of action. The authors characterize this parading as “democracy despite government.” Democracy despite government involves open and public, relatively egalitarian, informal political practices beyond the institutional boundaries, rational deliberative processes, and instrumental actions of representative government. Such democracy gives expression to the values and interests of the politically marginalized. It does not necessarily directly challenge or replace formal democratic or quasi- or un-democratic institutions, processes, and policies. Still, the parading, as an instance of democracy despite government, creates and expresses freedom and community and gives scope for the marginalized to express their own values, identities, and interests in civil society.View full textDownload full textRelated var addthis_config = { ui_cobrand: "Taylor & Francis Online", services_compact: "citeulike,netvibes,twitter,technorati,delicious,linkedin,facebook,stumbleupon,digg,google,more", pubid: "ra-4dff56cd6bb1830b" }; Add to shortlist Link Permalink http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07393148.2010.520436