Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Does the Demographic Objection to Epistocracy Succeed?

Does the Demographic Objection to Epistocracy Succeed? Abstract In most, if not all, forms of epistocracy, we can expect (at least in the near future) that the more advantaged demographic groups would have higher rates of representation than less advantaged groups. The Demographic Objection to Epistocracy holds that this means epistocracy is unjust. One version of the Demographic Objection holds that the unequal representation is inherently unfair. I show that this argument fails, as proceduralist concern for fairness does not get us to universal equal suffrage at all. A second version holds that by giving some kinds of people more power than others, epistocracy will tend to help the advantaged and harm the already disadvantaged. In contrast, I argue that certain forms of epistocracy escape this objection altogether. For the others, though, this version of the objection relies on questionable empirical assumptions. In the end, neither version of the Demographic Objection succeeds. The Demographic Objection to epistocracy is much weaker than it seems. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Res Publica Springer Journals

Does the Demographic Objection to Epistocracy Succeed?

Res Publica , Volume 24 (1): 19 – Feb 1, 2018

Loading next page...
 
/lp/springer-journals/does-the-demographic-objection-to-epistocracy-succeed-LXDhZwpogc

References (47)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
2018 Springer Science+Business Media B.V., part of Springer Nature
ISSN
1356-4765
eISSN
1572-8692
DOI
10.1007/s11158-017-9385-y
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Abstract In most, if not all, forms of epistocracy, we can expect (at least in the near future) that the more advantaged demographic groups would have higher rates of representation than less advantaged groups. The Demographic Objection to Epistocracy holds that this means epistocracy is unjust. One version of the Demographic Objection holds that the unequal representation is inherently unfair. I show that this argument fails, as proceduralist concern for fairness does not get us to universal equal suffrage at all. A second version holds that by giving some kinds of people more power than others, epistocracy will tend to help the advantaged and harm the already disadvantaged. In contrast, I argue that certain forms of epistocracy escape this objection altogether. For the others, though, this version of the objection relies on questionable empirical assumptions. In the end, neither version of the Demographic Objection succeeds. The Demographic Objection to epistocracy is much weaker than it seems.

Journal

Res PublicaSpringer Journals

Published: Feb 1, 2018

Keywords: Political Philosophy; Theories of Law, Philosophy of Law, Legal History; Political Theory; Theories of Law, Philosophy of Law, Legal History; Ethics

There are no references for this article.