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Must Egalitarians Condemn Representative Democracy?
- Source :
- Social Theory & Practice; Jan2021, Vol. 47 Issue 1, p171-198, 28p
- Publication Year :
- 2021
-
Abstract
- Many contemporary democratic theorists are democratic egalitarians. They think that the distinctive value of democracy lies in equality. Yet this position faces a serious problem. All contemporary democracies are representative democracies. Such democracies are highly unequal: representatives have much more power than do ordinary citizens. So, it seems that democratic egalitarians must condemn representative democracies. In this paper, I present a solution to this problem. My solution invokes popular control. If representatives are under popular control, then their extra power is not objectionable. Unfortunately, so I argue, in the United States representatives are under loose popular control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 0037802X
- Volume :
- 47
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- Social Theory & Practice
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 148691406
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.5840/soctheorpract202121116