Democratic Legitimacy

by Fabienne Peter

Overview

This book offers a systematic treatment of the requirements of democratic legitimacy. It argues that democratic procedures are essential for political legitimacy because of the need to respect value pluralism and because of the learning process that democratic decision-making enables. It proposes a framework for distinguishing among the different ways in which the requirements of democratic legitimacy have been interpreted. Peter then uses this framework to identify and defend what appears as the most plausible conception of democratic legitimacy. According to this conception, democratic legitimacy requires that the decision-making process satisfies certain conditions of political and epistemic fairness.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415332828
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	12/15/2008
Series:	Routledge Studies in Social and Political Thought
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Fabienne Peter is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Warwick. She has co-edited two volumes: Public Health, Ethics, and Equity (OUP 2004, with Sudhir Anand and Amartya Sen), and Rationality and Commitment (OUP 2007, with Hans Bernhard Schmid).

Table of Contents

1. Introduction 2. Aggregative Democracy 3. Deliberative Democracy 4. Conceptions of Democratic Legitimacy 5. Political Equality 6. Public Reason 7. Epistemic Democracy