Learning to Love the DMV: Coming to Terms with the Bureaucratic State and Adapting Public Argument

• In Event: Bridging Spheres, Crossing Divides: Accommodating the Technical Character of Contemporary Public Moral Argument

Abstract

Observations about the rise of the “bureaucratic state” are certainly not uncommon; nonetheless, little extant research speaks directly to the translational issues between the highly specialized administrative functions of government bureaucracy and the publics constituted by argument over contemporary policy. This paper will argue that one of results of this disconnect between public argument and bureaucratic/administrative (technical) policy is the oft-maligned “partisanship” which characterizes contemporary policy controversies such as health care reform or governmental responses to climate change. After theorizing the manner in which these argumentative and translational failures give room for and generate distorted public argument, this paper will suggest possible future directions for the constitution of a more vibrant public sphere that effectively grapples with highly bureaucratic and technical controversies.

Author

• Joshua Gonzalez, Wake Forest University