Against Epistocracy
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6251487 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Paul Gunn (0009-0008-6204-3715, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2019 |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 26-82 |
| Publication date | 2019-01-02 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Critical Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0891-3811 • E-ISSN: 1933-8007 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/08913811.2019.1609842 |
| OpenAlex | W4242194524 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 20 |
| References cited | 61 |
In Against Democracy, Jason Brennan argues that public ignorance undermines the legitimacy of democracy because, to the extent that ignorant voters make bad policy choices, they harm their own and one another's interests. The solution, he thinks, is epistocracy, which would leave policy decisions largely in the hands of social-scientific experts or voters who pass tests of political knowledge. However, Brennan fails to explain why we should think that these putative experts are sufficiently knowledgeable to avoid making errors as damaging as those made by voters. Given the strong link between political knowledge and ideological dogmatism, as well as the tendency of social scientists to disagree with one another, the case for epistocracy is deeply implausible, at best. Moreover, given that there are important non-instrumental justifications of democracy—justifications of which Brennan appears to be radically ignorant—the epistocratic alternative would be unnecessary even if it were viable
Democracy · Economics · Epistemology · Harm · Ideology · Ignorance · Law and economics · Legitimacy · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Sociology · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Philosophy · Political Philosophy and Ethics · Political Science Research and Education
Polycentric governance, epistocracy and the limits of policing knowledge in preparing for the climate crisis
Epistemic Responsibility, Rights and Duties During the Covid-19 Pandemic
An Epistemic Problem for Epistocracy
Stability in Liberal Epistocracies
The Epistemic Value of Democratic Meritocracy
There is no right to a competent electorate
Epistocracy vs constitutional democracy
The Purpose and Limits of Electoral Accountability
Is Epistocracy Irrational
Epistocracy and Public Interests
Educational Utopianism beyond the “Real versus Blueprint” Dichotomy
Expertise within democracy
Should The More Highly Educated Get More Votes? Education, Voting and Representation
Are knowledgeable voters better voters
The political speech rights of the tokenized
The case for epistocratic republicanism
An Epistemic Case for Positive Voting Duties
Populists as Technocrats
How Realistic Is the Modeling of Epistemic Democracy
Enhancing Democratic Expertise Through Intra‐Party Deliberation
Expert Political Judgment
Self-Interest and Public Interest in Western Politics
The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion
Economics and Reality
The Inexact and Separate Science of Economics
Democratic Innovations
The Rational Public
Collective Preferences in Democratic Politics
The Climate Casino
An Epistemic Theory of Democracy
Groups of diverse problem solvers can outperform groups of high-ability problem solvers
A systemic approach to deliberative democracy
Growth in a Time of Debt
‘Sustainable Development’
Democracy
Democracy and Disagreement
The Open Society and Its Enemies
Against Democracy
Beyond the Fact of Disagreement? The Epistemic Turn in Deliberative Democracy
How Economics Forgot History
Theories of Democracy
Power without Knowledge
Terror, Security, and Money
Vital Democracy
In Defense of Openness
Understanding the Culture of Markets
Democracy for Realists
Hearing the Other Side
The Human Condition
The sustainability debate
Measuring Political Deliberation
Survey Article
The Authority of Democracy
Deliberation and disagreement
Public ignorance and democratic theory
Deliberative Democracy and the Systemic Turn
Second Thoughts About Expert Political Judgment
The Forum, the System, and the Polity
Reasoning Is for Arguing
Discounting the Future
Putting Political Experts to the Test
Have the Experts Been Weighed, Measured, and Found Wanting
Yes, We Can (Make It Up on Volume)
When Human Behavior Enters the Equation
Sources of Mass Political Disagreement
Professors and their politics
How elitism undermines the study of voter competence
No Man Is an Island
Democracy, the Market, and the Logic of Social Choice
Motivated Skepticism in the Evaluation of Political Beliefs
Sociotropic Politics
Shortcuts Versus Encyclopedias
From Max Weber
Between Facts and Norms
| Unique citing works | 20 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2,86 |
| Citation span | 2019 - 2025 (7) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 20 |