ABSTRACT
The seductiveness of theories of hegemony and false consciousness depends in large part on the strategic appearances which elites and subordinates alike ordinarily insert into the public transcript. This chapter examines how the concepts of the public and hidden transcript can help to a more critical view of the various debates swirling around the troubled terms, "false-consciousness" and "hegemony." The thin theory of false-consciousness maintains only that the dominant ideology achieves compliance by convincing subordinate groups that the social order in which they live is natural and inevitable. A great many objections can be made to the case for hegemony and false-consciousness. In North America, the arguments about the reasons for quiescence are to be found in what is known as the "community power" literature based on local studies demonstrating relatively low levels of political participation despite marked inequalities and a relatively open political system.
