Trivialization and Public Opinion among the Most Popular Publications of 2019

Congratulations to McMaster political scientists Oldrich Bubak (PhD Candidate) and Henry Jacek (Professor Emeritus) whose recent book, Trivialization and Public Opinion: Slogans, Substance, and Styles of Thought in the Age of Complexity, including one of its chapters, “Democracy (Re)Imagined”, were among the Springer Nature 2019 Highlights. Springer Highlights is a selection of the publisher’s most popular articles and book chapters, “reflecting top research that made an impact.”

About the book:

Trivialization and Public Opinion tackles some fundamental barriers to social and political advancement in the information age. It begins with public discourse, seen as filled with confident, easy to manage claims, intuitions, and other shortcuts. One of these is trivialization, the trend to distill multifaceted dilemmas to binary choices, neglect the big picture, gloss over alternatives, or filter reality through a lens of convenience. This leaves little room for nuance and hence debate.

Focusing primarily on industrialized democracies, Bubak and Jacek take their readers on a transdisciplinary journey into the world of trivialization, highlighting both the supporting and constraining role of technology. Can we do better? There is reason for optimism, the authors argue as they explore new avenues for progress.

“Democracy (Re)Imagined” and other highlighted chapters from across the Springer domains can be accessed at no charge until March 31, 2020.