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Single Idea 20561

[filed under theme 24. Political Theory / D. Ideologies / 5. Democracy / a. Nature of democracy ]

Full Idea

If there were moral knowledge about political matters, democracy would be a very strange way of reaching it. Democratic law-making means treating each person's view as equally good, which only makes sense if there is nothing to be right or wrong about.

Gist of Idea

Since all opinions are treated as equal in democracy, it implies there are no right answers

Source

Adam Swift (Political Philosophy (3rd ed) [2014], 5 'Subjectivism')

Book Ref

Swift,Adam: 'Political Philosophy (3rd edn)' [Polity 2014], p.209

A Reaction

Ah, I suddenly grasp that the modern fad for a rather gormless blanket relativism is rooted in the modern desire to take democracy really seriously. Important to remember Condorcet's point here.

Related Idea

Idea 20499 Condorcet proved that sensible voting leads to an emphatically right answer [Wolff,J]

The 24 ideas from 'Political Philosophy (3rd ed)'

20556 The best way to build a cohesive community is to be involved in a war [Swift]
20533 Justice can be seen as fairness or entitlement or desert [Swift]
20540 Redistributing wealth treats some people as means, rather than as ends [Swift]
20541 You can't necessarily sell your legitimate right to something, even if you produced it [Swift]
20536 Inequalities are needed, as incentives to do the most important jobs [Swift]
20535 Isn't it more rational to maximise the average position, but with a safety net? [Swift]
20537 Hypothetical contracts have no binding force [Swift]
20542 Cosmopolitans reject the right of different states to distribute resources in different ways [Swift]
20546 Libertarians about property ignore the fact that private property is a denial of freedoms [Swift]
20547 We should respect the right of people to live in their own way, even if it is irrational [Swift]
20545 Maybe a freedom is from a restraint, and also in order to do something [Swift]
20550 Opportunity should ignore extraneous factors, or foster competence, or ignore all disadvantages [Swift]
20551 Men have had the power to structure all of our social institutions [Swift]
20548 A person can desire redistibution of wealth, without it being for reasons of equality [Swift]
20557 Membership and inclusion in a community implies non-membership and exclusion [Swift]
20553 Liberals mistakenly think individuals choose their values, without reference to the community [Swift]
20555 Liberals are concerned to protect individuals from too much community [Swift]
20554 Multiculturalism is a barrier to the whole state being a community [Swift]
20564 Anti-colonial movements usually invoke the right of their 'people' to self-determination [Swift]
20559 Democracy is bad, but the other systems are worse [Swift]
20560 Teledemocracy omits debate and deliberation, which are important parts of good decisions [Swift]
20561 Since all opinions are treated as equal in democracy, it implies there are no right answers [Swift]
20562 Design your democracy to treat citizens equally, or to produce better citizens? [Swift]
20563 Design your democracy to yield political stability, or good decisions? [Swift]