SOCIAL REPRESENTATIONS OF DEMOCRACY IN HA BITUAL AND REFLEXIVE THINKING

In recent years a great deal of research has been initiated to examine lay representations and understanding of the political, economic and social changes in the post-Communist countries in the Central and East ern Europe. It is argued that the study of such representations and un derstanding must take into consideration the multi-layered nature of t he human thought. Lay representations of societal phenomena are formed by the symbolic thinking environment in which people live. At the sam e time this thinking environment is not only re-cycled and re-represen ted through individuals' activities but also changed by them. A series of illustrative exploratory studies into the lay representations of d emocracy shows that some research methods evoke thinking at habitual, i. e. nonreflexive levels of awareness, while others evoke its more re flexive levels. It is argued that systematic research into the methodo logical implications of habitual and reflexive thought is required.