20600
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Which areas of public concern should be decided democratically, and which not? [Tuckness/Wolf]
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Full Idea:
Are there areas which are excluded from democratic decision making? Or should all issues of public concern be decided through a democratic process?
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From:
Tuckness,A/Wolf,C (This is Political Philosophy [2017], 5 'What is')
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A reaction:
Crucially, are we discussing direct democracy, or representative democracy? In Britain all major decisions are made by the cabinet. Our representatives appoint leaders, who then appoint the decision makers. Judiciary is non-democratic.
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20609
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If several losing groups would win if they combine, a runoff seems called for [Tuckness/Wolf]
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Full Idea:
It is possible that the people who supported several losing candidates might have joined forces and had a majority. For that reason, many countries have a runoff election.
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From:
Tuckness,A/Wolf,C (This is Political Philosophy [2017], 5 'Does democracy')
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A reaction:
The problem is that there is no rationale as to who stands in an election. If their views are evenly spread, the first result seems OK. If there are five left-wingers and one right-winger, a runoff seems to be produce a more just result.
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20599
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How should democratic votes be aggregated? Can some person's votes count for more? [Tuckness/Wolf]
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Full Idea:
A major question for democracy is how are the contributions of different people aggregated into a collective decision? Must votes have equal weight and consideration, or is it permissible for different people's votes to count differently?
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From:
Tuckness,A/Wolf,C (This is Political Philosophy [2017], 5 'What is')
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A reaction:
Mill hoped that wise and knowledgeable people would have a strong influence over the others, but we have recently moved into the post-truth era, where we are swamped by bogus facts. Does that strengthen the case for elite voting?
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20613
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We have obligations to our family, even though we didn't choose its members [Tuckness/Wolf]
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Full Idea:
Many of our most important obligations are things we did not consent to. If you think you have obligations to your family, did you choose to have them as family members?
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From:
Tuckness,A/Wolf,C (This is Political Philosophy [2017], 6 'Gratitude')
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A reaction:
A question that gets close to the heart of the communitarian ideal, I think. We choose to have children, and we bring them up, but even then we don't choose who our children are.
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