Imagining Politics: Interpretations in Political Science and Political Television

163 Pages·2019·0.819 MB·English

by  Stephen Benedict Dyson

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Imagining Politics
Imagining Politics critically examines two interpretations of government.
The first comes from popular culture fictions about politics, the second
from academic political science. Stephen Benedict Dyson argues that
fictions and theories both function as attempts at meaning making—
making sensible the otherwise insensible realm of political behavior.
By taking fiction seriously, and by arguing that political science the-
ory is homologous to fiction, the book offers a fresh perspective on both.
The specialist is challenged to think anew not just about fictions such as
The West Wing, House of Cards, Borgen, Black Mirror, and Scandal, but
also about the assumptions that construct the discipline of political sci-
ence itself.
Imagining Politics is also about our political moment. The two popu-
list shocks of our time— Brexit and the election of Trump—a re set in a
new context here. Dyson traces how Trump and the Brexiteers cam-
paigned against our image of politics as usual, and won.
Stephen Benedict Dyson is Professor of Political Science at the Univer-
sity of Connecticut.
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Imagining Politics
Interpretations in Political Science
and Political Television
Stephen Benedict Dyson
university of michigan press | ann arbor
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Copyright © 2019 by Stephen Benedict Dyson
All rights reserved
This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form
(beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and
except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publisher.
Published in the United States of America by
the University of Michigan Press
Manufactured in the United States of America
Printed on acid- free paper
First published July 2019
A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978- 0- 472- 07424- 2 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN 978- 0- 472- 05424- 4 (paper : alk. paper)
ISBN 978- 0- 472- 12588- 3 (ebook)
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I dedicate this book to Rosa Emilia, with love.
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
1 | Imagining Politics 1
2 | Persuasion— The West Wing 12
3 | Ambition— House of Cards 26
4 | Character— Scandal 37
5 | Compromise— Borgen 53
6 | Bureaucracy—Y es, Minister 72
7 | Farce— The Thick of It, Veep 87
8 | Populism— Black Mirror, The Apprentice 101
Notes 121
References 133
Index 145
Digital materials related to this title can be found on
the Fulcrum platform via the following citable URL:
https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.10191802
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Acknowledgments
How do we make sense of politics? This book looks at two ways of making
political meaning: (1) academic theories of political science and (2) fic-
tional televised portrayals of how government works. I argue that the two
have surprising similarities. Both political science theories and televised
political fictions are based on assumptions about politics, directing our
attention to some things and away from others, telling some stories but
not others. By setting these two sources in dialogue, our images of politics
are revealed, and we expose a central way in which our society thinks
about itself.
I have had some valuable help in writing this book. My lively colleagues
Alexander Anievas, Fred Lee, and Tom Hayes read drafts of the manu-
script and gave excellent feedback. Tom and another valued colleague,
Prakash Kashwan, accompanied me to the Trump rally described in the
book. That was an experience. Jeff Dudas went above and beyond, provid-
ing extensive written feedback and moderating a workshop on the draft
manuscript. Students in my “Screen Politics” seminar worked with an ear-
lier version of the text and helped me sharpen its arguments. My mum and
dad, as has been the case with each of my books, dove into the text and
offered plentiful commentary ranging from line edits to critiques of the
whole argument. Reviewers for the press offered many good suggestions,
and I hope they are pleased with the changes I made in response.
Elizabeth Demers at the University of Michigan Press saw the project
through from proposal to completion. I am grateful for her staunch sup-
port of what is a somewhat unconventional work. John Sides at the Mon-
key Cage, a political science site hosted by the Washington Post, published
related essays of mine as I dove deeper into the topic of politics and popu-
lar culture. I am similarly grateful for his support of this unusual angle on
political science.