Participatory Pluralism – How Hannah Arendt and John Dewey Can Help Us in Reinvigorating Our Democracy

Despite the profound contributions of Hannah Arendt and John Dewey to political theory, a comprehensive comparative analysis that integrates their perspectives into a unified framework remains under-explored. This research gap is significant, given the potential synergies between Arendt’s emphasis on action, plurality, and the public realm, and Dewey’s focus on experience, democracy as a way of life, and community engagement. Therefore, addressing this gap is essential for advancing scholarly discourse and for developing practical strategies to tackle contemporary societal challenges such as political apathy, technological impacts on public discourse, ethical dilemmas, and social fragmentation. Special about research is the use of yet unpublished source material from the John Dewey Papers and the Hannah Arendt Papers for making my point and to add substance to my argument. The analysis of this material – mostly reading-notes, lecture scripts, notebooks, as well as the handwritten marginalia contained in the volumes of their private libraries – enables us to gain a more profound understanding of how the concepts and the ideas relevant to their political philosophies changed over time – or, in what respects they remained constant. The primary, overarching, research question guiding my study is: How can an integrated political theory, synthesizing Hannah Arendt’s and John Dewey’s conceptualizations of “the political” across ten thematic areas – action and experience; democracy as a living practice; the public sphere and communication; education’s role in society; plurality and community; ethics and political responsibility; critiques of modernity and technology; the human condition and potential; judgment and critical thinking; and overcoming alienation – be developed to address contemporary challenges in political philosophy and society, providing practical strategies for revitalizing democratic practices, fostering active citizenship, enhancing critical thinking and ethical responsibility, and building more cohesive and participatory communities in today’s world? This way, my study aims to fill the existing scholarly gap by conducting a thorough comparative analysis of Arendt’s and Dewey’s political theories, utilizing an integrative dialogical approach. By examining their ideas across the ten thematic areas, I uncover underlying commonalities and constructive differences that can be synthesized into a cohesive framework which I call “Participatory Pluralism”. Therefore, this integrated theory will reveal innovative approaches to enhancing democratic participation, fostering critical thinking, and promoting social cohesion. My findings demonstrate that combining Arendt’s insights on the importance of the public realm and spontaneous political action with Dewey’s emphasis on experiential learning and community engagement offer robust solutions to modern democratic deficits. This integrated approach contributes original scholarship by bridging continental and pragmatist traditions, providing both theoretical advancements and practical strategies relevant to contemporary political discourse and societal well-being. By addressing the complexities of modern political life through the lens of these two influential thinkers, my research not only enriches academic understanding but it also holds the potential to inform policy-making, educational reforms, and civic initiatives aimed at strengthening democratic institutions and practices in an increasingly interconnected and challenging world.