This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Moodie, E. Articles by Plichtova, J. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Lay Representations of Democracy: A Study in Two Cultures

Ivana Markova

University of Stirling, Scotland

Jana Plichtova

Comenius University, Slovakia

While the term 'democracy' has existed in political a and philosophical vocabularies since classical Athens, representations of democracy by laypeople are relatively more recent. Lay representations of democracy are likely to be formed, maintained and changed by both implicit and explicit processes. Some features of lay representations are deeply seated and transmitted across cultures; others are shaped by the already existing thinking schemata; and they also shape the existing thinking schemata by foregrounding particular latent issues, by bringing them into focused consciousness, and by introducing new contents. In the present study, lay representations of democracy were explored in two cultures, in Slovakia and in Scotland. It was found that the most important terms associated with 'democracy' were value terms such as 'individual freedom', 'justice' and 'individual rights'. The remaining clusters of terms expressed political processes and ideological vocabularies. It is argued in accordance with dialogical epistemology that the co-construction of meanings in study of lay representations of democracy must take into consideration different kinds of reflexive relations.

Key Words: culture • democracy • dialogical epistemology • lay representations • Scots • Slovaks

Culture & Psychology, Vol. 1, No. 4, 423-453 (1995)
DOI: 10.1177/1354067X9514002


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. Valsiner The First Six Years: Culture's Adventures in Psychology Culture Psychology, March 1, 2001; 7(1): 5 - 48. [Abstract] [PDF]

				J. Valsiner Review Note Culture Psychology, December 1, 1996; 2(4): 493 - 499.

				J. Valsiner Review of a Special Issue: Wanderings of the 'Vygotskian Soul' in the World of Education Culture Psychology, September 1, 1996; 2(3): 343 - 348.