democracy Experts and Justification Matt Bennett mpb74@cam.ac.uk drmattbennett.weebly.com

Democracy as self-rule demo-, demos, roughly translated as “the people” -cracy, kratia, roughly translated as power or rule i.e. democracy is self-rule of the people, by the people A people can self-rule in one of two ways: Expressions of the will of all citizens play a role in making political decisions e.g. through voting Political decisions that govern society reflect the will of the people, but are not causally determined by expressions of that will by all citizens

Problems with voting (last week) Not all citizens vote Unanimity is extremely unlikely Basic first-preference votes can contradict multiple preference-ordering votes Votes can generate a paradox of pre- and post-vote policy judgements Further problems fall into two categories: Reasons to think voting are an unreliable mechanism for an individual to express a judgement/preference Reasons to think that what people say they want is different from what they really want

Votes fail to track evolving opinion Votes ask for a judgement or preference at a specific moment in time But judgements and preferences can change (and develop/evolve)

Votes oversimplify complex political opinions

Available options may not reflect what voters really want

Votes are vulnerable to some survey biases E.g. acquiescence bias: agree/disagree survey questions are more likely to generate ”agree” responses Consider the question posed in the Scottish Independence referendum 2014

Voters are vulnerable to misinformation

No one has time to be fully informed on everything

Voter preferences are vulnerable to manipulation Voters’ wishes can be influenced by Campaigning Marketing Social expectations Ideology Cf. Marxist concept of false consciousness: the proletariat is convinced to adopt and defend the ideology of the wealthy ruling class

Alternatives to voting? A people can self-rule in one of two ways: Expressions of the will of all citizens play a role in making political decisions e.g. through voting Political decisions that govern society reflect the will of the people, but are not causally determined by expressions of that will by all citizens Elected representation (e.g. House of Commons) Non-elected representation (e.g. House of Lords) Civil service An unelected “People’s Assembly”

Democratic decisions and democratic procedures A people can self-rule in one of two ways: Expressions of the will of all citizens play a role in making political decisions e.g. through voting Decisions based on votes do not necessarily reflect what the people really want Political decisions that govern society reflect the will of the people, but are not causally determined by expressions of that will by all citizens These decisions lack sufficient participation of all citizens in decision making procedures A democracy ought to have both A and B. Which we value more will determine our democratic theory and democratic practice

Justifications for democracy Democratic participation in decision making is valuable Non-instrumentalist justification of democracy: democratic procedures for reaching decisions are better than any other form of political decision-making Democratic decisions are valuable Instrumentalist theories: democratic procedures generate the best political decisions

Instrumentalist justifications Democracy procedures the best political decisions. What do we mean by “best”? At least one of the following: Decisions with the best consequences Decisions that are just Decisions that accord with the popular will Consider e.g. John Stuart Mill: Representative government is the best arrangement for protection of the rights of all Representative government is best suited for prosperity

Instrumentalist justifications Democracy procedures the best political decisions. What do we mean by “best”? At least one of the following: Decisions with the best consequences Decisions that are just Decisions that accord with the popular will Consider e.g. Amartya Sen Politicians held accountable have greater incentive to make decisions with good consequences for everyone

Cultivating good citizens Democracy procedures the best political decisions. What do we mean by “best”? At least one of the following: Decisions with the best consequences Decisions that are just Decisions that accord with the popular will

Epistemic Justification Some argue democratic procedures are more likely to reach the “right answer” in politics. This is because: More people means a more diverse range of expertise More comprehensive coverage of the interests we aim to satisfy More critical scrutiny of proposed policy Aggregation of judgements over a large cohort best “tracks truth”. Probability theorems and decision theory often underpin these arguments e.g. Condorcet jury theorem

Objections to instrumentalism Platonic objection: good political decisions are easier to reach through ruling philosophers Hobbesian objection: multiple competing opinions will generate instability

Non-instrumentalism Argument for the value of self-government: All people have a right to personal autonomy. Our lives are significantly affected by social and political factors. The only way to have control over those factors is through the right to equal participation in social and political decision making. To protect the right to personal autonomy, citizens need a further right of equal participation in politics Objection1: if this argument holds, democracies will often fail to respect rights Objection2: this argument might lead to anarchy, not democracy

Non-instrumentalism Argument from legitimacy Decisions must be justifiable to citizens to be considered legitimate Justifiability is best ensured if citizens make decisions themselves Objection1: non-democratic governments might be able to justify themselves to citizens Reply: an accountable government is very close to a democratic government Objection2: the public could be misled into accepting government decisions (misinformation, false consciousness)