Date of Award
5-2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Political Science
First Advisor
Dr. Claudio López-Guerra
Second Advisor
Dr. Stephen Simon
Abstract
This thesis argues that contemporary public shaming—amplified today by the Internet and universal social membership—is unjustifiable because existing theories ignore its distinctly democratic harms. Defining public shaming as an intentional, collective act that weaponizes social opprobrium, I critique existing consequentialist and deontological defenses, showing they overlook how shaming erodes the conditions for democratic citizenship. Public shaming breeds mistrust, skews who gets to set social norms, chills political participation, radicalizes targets, and obscures what norms actually govern us; these six systemic costs undermine democracy and outweigh any social, economic, or moral benefits except in rare cases where public shaming averts existential threats to the polity.
Recommended Citation
Han, Elijah, "Shame on Us: The Democratic Costs of Public Shaming" (2025). Honors Theses. 1823.
https://scholarship.richmond.edu/honors-theses/1823
