REIMAGINING THE PUBLIC SPHERE: ADDRESSING THE CRISES OF DEMOCRACY THROUGH APPLIED DRAMA

Abstract

Liberal democracy is under threat and in a state of crisis around the world. This crisis of democracy is characterised by a rise in right-wing populism, an increase in political strongmen, and an undermining of liberal democratic norms. One contributing factor to these developments is the escalating polarisation of citizens within liberal democracies. This study aims to theorise and propose a new method for citizen engagement in the public sphere through the use of applied drama praxis, dubbed Creative Democracy. Creative Democracy is the proposed interdisciplinary approach to civic engagement which straddles the fields of political science and drama/theatre. It is both a form of deliberative democracy and a form of applied drama.

To make the case for this new, hybrid practice this study will first explore the well-established relationship between liberal democracy and the field of drama/theatre. This exploration will reveal a link between democratisation and dialogic forms of drama/theatre practice. Next, drawing from democratic theorists Jürgen Habermas, Hannah Arendt, Chantal Mouffe, Charles Tilley, and John Dewey, the study will then put the values of liberal democracy and the practices that support it into conversation with applied drama, a highly dialogic form of drama/theatre. Through an exploration of six guiding principles of applied drama, the form is shown to have the capacity to support the type of democratic learning and community-building that characterises a healthy public sphere.

Moving from the general to the more specific, the study then looks to deliberative democratic theory and critiques within the practice to inform a new approach using applied drama praxis: Creative Democracy. This theory is then tested through a survey and interviews conducted with applied drama facilitators from around the world, measuring the quality of democracy and deliberation within the actualised practice of the study participants. Applied drama is revealed to be highly supportive of both democratic and deliberative aims in practice, as well as theory. However, the study also revealed areas for concern within the theory of Creative Democracy that require special attention and navigation in order to support a deeply democratic and deliberative process: (1) dealing with issues of power; (2) navigating moments of high contention; and (3) facilitation style/technique. To conclude, a case is made for the continuation of this line of inquiry through a field experiment of Creative Democracy.