Ben Saunders
Biographic Data
| ID | 5603909 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Ben Saunders |
| GIVEN NAMES | Ben |
| FAMILY NAME | Saunders |
| SIGNATURE | BEN SAUNDERS |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Stirling |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6884-5195 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 21 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 95 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 20 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1999 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
In the shadow of the Lammermuirs: Archaeological investigations of prehistoric and early medieval sites between Thorntonloch and Boonslie, East Lothian for the Onshore Cable Route for the Neart na Gao…
Wessex Archaeology completed archaeological investigations on the Onshore Transmission Works for the Neart na Gaoithe Offshore Wind Farm between 2015 and 2021. These included geophysical survey, evaluation trenching, targeted strip, map and sample excavations, and watching briefs on the cable route and associated infrastructure between the landfall at Thorntonloch and the grid connection at Crystal Rig II Wind Farm, both in East Lothian. The inve…
The Recovery and Reuse of a MKII Fairey Barracuda from the Solent, Hampshire
This paper reports on the archaeological recording and recovery of a MK II Fairey Barracuda from the Solent, Hampshire, off the south coast of England. As its location precluded the aircraft being left in situ, the decision was made to recover the aircraft. Despite adverse visibility, and a significant amount of overburden, the extant remains of the aircraft were successfully recovered and delivered to the Fleet Air Arm Museum for conservation, a…
A 19th-Century Timber Buoy from Portsmouth Harbour
Making Nonvoters Pay: Prices as an Alternative to Compulsory Voting
Compulsory voting involves a legal obligation to vote (or attend the polls), but we might instead require those who do not to pay a charge, without any legal obligation for them to do so. This nonpunitive price creates an incentive for all citizens to participate and prevents free riding, but permits nonvoting and avoids condemning nonvoters. Thus, this proposal delivers what at least some advocates and opponents of compulsory voting want. Moreov…
Against Detaching the Duty to Vote
Many people believe that citizens of a democracy have a duty to vote, yet this overlooks an important distinction between voting well and voting badly. Those who vote well may be doing what they ought to do, but it does not follow that those who vote badly are doing anything that they ought to do. While one cannot vote well unless one votes, a duty to vote as such cannot be detached from a more particular duty to vote well. Thus, even if there is…
The Ethics of Political Participation: Engagement and Democracy in the 21st Century
Democracy today faces many challenges: increasing political inequality, the decline of widespread political participation, voter incompetence, the increasing power of non-majoritarian organisations and institutions on the domestic and global stages, the rise of global problems requiring multilateral collective action, the growing need for specialised expertise in an increasingly complex public policy environment, and the existence of often radica…
Fairness and Aggregation
Sometimes, two unfair distributions cancel out in aggregate. Paradoxically, two distributions each of which is fair in isolation may give rise to aggregate unfairness. When assessing the fairness of distributions, it therefore matters whether we assess transactions piecemeal or focus only on the overall result. This piece illustrates these difficulties for two leading theories of fairness (proportionality and shortfall minimization) before offeri…
Education for Democracy or for Itself: A Critical Note on Martha C. Nussbaum's Not for Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities
Combining lotteries and voting
The Democratic Turnout ‘Problem
A number of authors, including Lijphart, Hill and Engelen, have recently advocated compulsory voting. While numerous justifications can be given for such measures, it is often said that they are necessary to realise democracy fully, for instance ensuring that everyone casts one vote (no more and no less). This argument rests on the commonly held assumption that low turnout is a problem for democracies – a claim that the present article resists. I…
Reinterpreting the Qualitative Hedonism Advanced by J.S. Mill
Immigration, Rights and Democracy
Arash Abizadeh has recently argued that political communities have no right to close their borders unilaterally, since by doing so they subject outsiders to coercion which lacks democratic justification. His conclusion is that any legitimate regime of border controls must be justified to outsiders. David Miller has sought to defend closed borders by distinguishing between coercion and prevention and arguing that the latter does not require democr…
Defining the demos
Until relatively recently, few democrats had much to say about the constitution of the ‘demos' that ought to rule. A number of recent writers have, however, argued that all those whose interests are affected must be enfranchised if decision-making is to be fully democratic. This article criticizes this approach, arguing that it misunderstands democracy. Democratic procedures are about the agency of the people so only agents can be enfranchised, y…
Why Majority Rule Cannot Be Based only on Procedural Equality
Fairness Between Competing Claims
Estlund’s Flight From Fairness
In Democratic Authority, Estlund claims not only that procedural fairness is insufficient to justify a democratic procedure but that it is not even necessary. This article reconstructs his argument, but argues that he is wrong to reject the importance of fairness altogether. While our reason for preferring democratic procedures to coin?tossing for making decisions may indeed be because of the epistemic properties of the former, it is also importa…
Increasing Turnout: A Compelling Case
Recently several thinkers have endorsed compulsion or other measures to increase turnout and revitalise democracy. This article argues that such measures are misguided, because lower turnout (even if unequal across social groups) is not necessarily undemocratic – indeed, it may serve democratic values by, for example, making it more likely that decisions really are made by the relevant constituency, with those most affected getting more say. Enco…
A Defence of Weighted Lotteries in Life Saving Cases
The Constitution of Equality: Democratic Authority and its Limits - Thomas Christiano
In this ambitious book, Christiano sets out to justify liberal democracy as an intrinsically just realization of public equality. Though the political recommendations are familiar, and no stage of the argument is particularly original, the scope of the project is unusual. Starting from the quasi‐Kantian claim that human beings are ‘authorities in the realm of value’, Christiano argues for the equal promotion of interests. Rejecting common philoso…
Rock over the Edge: Transformations in Popular Music Culture
Prosodic Pleasures and Metrical Fantasies: "Donne's "Irregularity
Defining the demos
Until relatively recently, few democrats had much to say about the constitution of the ‘demos' that ought to rule. A number of recent writers have, however, argued that all those whose interests are affected must be enfranchised if decision-making is to be fully democratic. This article criticizes this approach, arguing that it misunderstands democracy. Democratic procedures are about the agency of the people so only agents can be enfranchised, y…
Increasing Turnout: A Compelling Case
Recently several thinkers have endorsed compulsion or other measures to increase turnout and revitalise democracy. This article argues that such measures are misguided, because lower turnout (even if unequal across social groups) is not necessarily undemocratic – indeed, it may serve democratic values by, for example, making it more likely that decisions really are made by the relevant constituency, with those most affected getting more say. Enco…
The Democratic Turnout ‘Problem
A number of authors, including Lijphart, Hill and Engelen, have recently advocated compulsory voting. While numerous justifications can be given for such measures, it is often said that they are necessary to realise democracy fully, for instance ensuring that everyone casts one vote (no more and no less). This argument rests on the commonly held assumption that low turnout is a problem for democracies – a claim that the present article resists. I…
Estlund’s Flight From Fairness
In Democratic Authority, Estlund claims not only that procedural fairness is insufficient to justify a democratic procedure but that it is not even necessary. This article reconstructs his argument, but argues that he is wrong to reject the importance of fairness altogether. While our reason for preferring democratic procedures to coin?tossing for making decisions may indeed be because of the epistemic properties of the former, it is also importa…
Against Detaching the Duty to Vote
Many people believe that citizens of a democracy have a duty to vote, yet this overlooks an important distinction between voting well and voting badly. Those who vote well may be doing what they ought to do, but it does not follow that those who vote badly are doing anything that they ought to do. While one cannot vote well unless one votes, a duty to vote as such cannot be detached from a more particular duty to vote well. Thus, even if there is…
Combining lotteries and voting
Immigration, Rights and Democracy
Arash Abizadeh has recently argued that political communities have no right to close their borders unilaterally, since by doing so they subject outsiders to coercion which lacks democratic justification. His conclusion is that any legitimate regime of border controls must be justified to outsiders. David Miller has sought to defend closed borders by distinguishing between coercion and prevention and arguing that the latter does not require democr…
Making Nonvoters Pay: Prices as an Alternative to Compulsory Voting
Compulsory voting involves a legal obligation to vote (or attend the polls), but we might instead require those who do not to pay a charge, without any legal obligation for them to do so. This nonpunitive price creates an incentive for all citizens to participate and prevents free riding, but permits nonvoting and avoids condemning nonvoters. Thus, this proposal delivers what at least some advocates and opponents of compulsory voting want. Moreov…
The Ethics of Political Participation: Engagement and Democracy in the 21st Century
Democracy today faces many challenges: increasing political inequality, the decline of widespread political participation, voter incompetence, the increasing power of non-majoritarian organisations and institutions on the domestic and global stages, the rise of global problems requiring multilateral collective action, the growing need for specialised expertise in an increasingly complex public policy environment, and the existence of often radica…
Education for Democracy or for Itself: A Critical Note on Martha C. Nussbaum's Not for Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities
Fairness Between Competing Claims
Prosodic Pleasures and Metrical Fantasies: "Donne's "Irregularity
Rock over the Edge: Transformations in Popular Music Culture
A Defence of Weighted Lotteries in Life Saving Cases
The Constitution of Equality: Democratic Authority and its Limits - Thomas Christiano
In this ambitious book, Christiano sets out to justify liberal democracy as an intrinsically just realization of public equality. Though the political recommendations are familiar, and no stage of the argument is particularly original, the scope of the project is unusual. Starting from the quasi‐Kantian claim that human beings are ‘authorities in the realm of value’, Christiano argues for the equal promotion of interests. Rejecting common philoso…
Why Majority Rule Cannot Be Based only on Procedural Equality
Fairness Between Competing Claims
Estlund’s Flight From Fairness
In Democratic Authority, Estlund claims not only that procedural fairness is insufficient to justify a democratic procedure but that it is not even necessary. This article reconstructs his argument, but argues that he is wrong to reject the importance of fairness altogether. While our reason for preferring democratic procedures to coin?tossing for making decisions may indeed be because of the epistemic properties of the former, it is also importa…
Increasing Turnout: A Compelling Case
Recently several thinkers have endorsed compulsion or other measures to increase turnout and revitalise democracy. This article argues that such measures are misguided, because lower turnout (even if unequal across social groups) is not necessarily undemocratic – indeed, it may serve democratic values by, for example, making it more likely that decisions really are made by the relevant constituency, with those most affected getting more say. Enco…
Reinterpreting the Qualitative Hedonism Advanced by J.S. Mill
Immigration, Rights and Democracy
Arash Abizadeh has recently argued that political communities have no right to close their borders unilaterally, since by doing so they subject outsiders to coercion which lacks democratic justification. His conclusion is that any legitimate regime of border controls must be justified to outsiders. David Miller has sought to defend closed borders by distinguishing between coercion and prevention and arguing that the latter does not require democr…
Defining the demos
Until relatively recently, few democrats had much to say about the constitution of the ‘demos' that ought to rule. A number of recent writers have, however, argued that all those whose interests are affected must be enfranchised if decision-making is to be fully democratic. This article criticizes this approach, arguing that it misunderstands democracy. Democratic procedures are about the agency of the people so only agents can be enfranchised, y…
Combining lotteries and voting
The Democratic Turnout ‘Problem
A number of authors, including Lijphart, Hill and Engelen, have recently advocated compulsory voting. While numerous justifications can be given for such measures, it is often said that they are necessary to realise democracy fully, for instance ensuring that everyone casts one vote (no more and no less). This argument rests on the commonly held assumption that low turnout is a problem for democracies – a claim that the present article resists. I…
Education for Democracy or for Itself: A Critical Note on Martha C. Nussbaum's Not for Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities
Fairness and Aggregation
Sometimes, two unfair distributions cancel out in aggregate. Paradoxically, two distributions each of which is fair in isolation may give rise to aggregate unfairness. When assessing the fairness of distributions, it therefore matters whether we assess transactions piecemeal or focus only on the overall result. This piece illustrates these difficulties for two leading theories of fairness (proportionality and shortfall minimization) before offeri…
The Ethics of Political Participation: Engagement and Democracy in the 21st Century
Democracy today faces many challenges: increasing political inequality, the decline of widespread political participation, voter incompetence, the increasing power of non-majoritarian organisations and institutions on the domestic and global stages, the rise of global problems requiring multilateral collective action, the growing need for specialised expertise in an increasingly complex public policy environment, and the existence of often radica…
Against Detaching the Duty to Vote
Many people believe that citizens of a democracy have a duty to vote, yet this overlooks an important distinction between voting well and voting badly. Those who vote well may be doing what they ought to do, but it does not follow that those who vote badly are doing anything that they ought to do. While one cannot vote well unless one votes, a duty to vote as such cannot be detached from a more particular duty to vote well. Thus, even if there is…
A 19th-Century Timber Buoy from Portsmouth Harbour
Making Nonvoters Pay: Prices as an Alternative to Compulsory Voting
Compulsory voting involves a legal obligation to vote (or attend the polls), but we might instead require those who do not to pay a charge, without any legal obligation for them to do so. This nonpunitive price creates an incentive for all citizens to participate and prevents free riding, but permits nonvoting and avoids condemning nonvoters. Thus, this proposal delivers what at least some advocates and opponents of compulsory voting want. Moreov…
The Recovery and Reuse of a MKII Fairey Barracuda from the Solent, Hampshire
This paper reports on the archaeological recording and recovery of a MK II Fairey Barracuda from the Solent, Hampshire, off the south coast of England. As its location precluded the aircraft being left in situ, the decision was made to recover the aircraft. Despite adverse visibility, and a significant amount of overburden, the extant remains of the aircraft were successfully recovered and delivered to the Fleet Air Arm Museum for conservation, a…
In the shadow of the Lammermuirs: Archaeological investigations of prehistoric and early medieval sites between Thorntonloch and Boonslie, East Lothian for the Onshore Cable Route for the Neart na Gao…
Wessex Archaeology completed archaeological investigations on the Onshore Transmission Works for the Neart na Gaoithe Offshore Wind Farm between 2015 and 2021. These included geophysical survey, evaluation trenching, targeted strip, map and sample excavations, and watching briefs on the cable route and associated infrastructure between the landfall at Thorntonloch and the grid connection at Crystal Rig II Wind Farm, both in East Lothian. The inve…
Political science (15 works) · Law (14 works) · Political Philosophy and Ethics (13 works) · Politics (13 works) · Law (12 works) · Economics (11 works) · Law and economics (10 works) · Sociology (10 works) · Democracy (9 works) · Philosophy (6 works)