Democracy, Elite Politics and Propaganda

Democracy, Elite Politics and Propaganda

After the reading, I have a impression that the Dewey -Lippman debate actually points to whether we need Elite Politics or the Grassroots Politics.
Lippman argued that public opinions are highly influenced by the opinion leaders/ political elites. He therefore suggested that democracy is a Nostalgic pursue and a myth. He said " and hence that governance should be delegated exclusively to political representatives and their expert advisors" He also argued that public opinions can be "manufactured".
Based on Lippman's theory, I think the propaganda tactics such as "Glittering Generalities", "Bandwagons", and the use of fear has been tirelessly used by politicians and propagandists. These tactics basically believes in the bullet magic theory, which emphasizes the vulnerability of public when messages are presented.

However, Dewey argued that although social inquiry and policy design can be done by experts, all the relevant facts and potential implications of such inquiry and proposed policies should remain a public trust which must no be manipulable by private interests. One of the very valuable arguments of Dewey is that he believed Democracy is rather the way people decide to live, learn and work together, than a technical system of governance defined by devices, such as elections. Dewey believe that elections, universal suffrage, checks or balances are only tools to achieve democracy, and the essential democracy should be ruled by the people and serve the people.
From his point of view, the tactics of propaganda do not serve a significant role in the democracy process.

As my personal opinion, I agree with Dewey more. I do not believe in Elite politics and propaganda, and I think given the time, public will distinguish the difference between true informational campaign and propaganda, essential democracy and the elites politics.