citizenship-tests
Televised experiments and trials that assess individuals' or groups' capacities to govern themselves and abide by private constitutions, functioning as demonstrations of responsible citizenship.
2 chapters across 1 book
Better Living through Reality TV: Television and Post-Welfare Citizenship (2008)Laurie Ouellette; James Hay
Chapter 5 analyzes how reality TV functions as a medium for constituting citizenship through private forms of governance such as households and neighborhoods. Using examples like ABC's Supernanny, the chapter explores how TV demonstrates and enforces 'household constitutions'—private contracts that establish rules, rights, and responsibilities within family units and other social groups. It situates these televised practices within broader liberal government rationalities, emphasizing the role of private constitutions in shaping civil society and citizenship beyond the formal State.
This chapter analyzes the failed reality TV series "Welcome to the Neighborhood," which was never broadcast due to interventions by civil rights organizations citing violations of fair housing laws. The series exemplifies the experimentalism in contemporary television as a form of governance, intersecting private homeowner associations, state regulation, and corporate civic outreach. It highlights the complex interplay between private and public governance, citizenship, and the regulation of media as a site of social and political contestation.