Democratic Imaginaries: A Brief Theoretical Justification

• In Event: The Rhetorical Character of Political Theory

Abstract

This essay engages recent calls for rhetoricians to conceptualize democratic style. Instead of thinking of a democratic style, I argue we should be exploring democratic imaginaries, a concept adapted from Charles Taylor’s social imaginaries. Thinking of democratic imaginaries instead of style is useful, I argue, for two reasons: (1) it is rooted in the assumption that democracy is not a single concept and (2) it avoids concerns about divisions between style and substance.

Author

• Jay Childers, University of Kansas