What militant democrats and technocrats share
Malkopoulou, Anthoula LU
(2023)
In Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy (CRISPP)
26(4).
p.437-460
- Abstract
- In their efforts to prevent democratic backsliding, militant democrats have traditionally been sympathetic to technocratic arrangements. Does this sympathy imply a logical congruence? Comparing theories of militant democracy and epistemic technocracy (aka epistocracy), I discover a common approach to basic aspects of representative democracy. Both theories see voters as fallible or ignorant instead of capable political agents; and they both understand political parties to be channels of state rule rather than democratic expression. This shared suspicion of grassroots political agency explains why they employ non-democratic means to pursue their goals. But the two theories appear to be also analytically co-extensive. Like militant... (More)
- In their efforts to prevent democratic backsliding, militant democrats have traditionally been sympathetic to technocratic arrangements. Does this sympathy imply a logical congruence? Comparing theories of militant democracy and epistemic technocracy (aka epistocracy), I discover a common approach to basic aspects of representative democracy. Both theories see voters as fallible or ignorant instead of capable political agents; and they both understand political parties to be channels of state rule rather than democratic expression. This shared suspicion of grassroots political agency explains why they employ non-democratic means to pursue their goals. But the two theories appear to be also analytically co-extensive. Like militant democrats, epistemic technocrats polemicize antidemocrats inasmuch as the latter are proxies for epistemically foul decision-making. Conversely, militant democrats try to block ‘incorrect’ decisions as long as these lead to democratic subversion, thereby producing a distinct type of militant technocracy. The article ends by drawing the implications of this symbiosis of epistemic and militant democratic ideas for contemporary democratic theory. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/a40dff04-743c-45b6-9735-1519c3a4d8ef
- author
- Malkopoulou, Anthoula
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2023
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- political theory, militant democracy, epistocracy, conception of voters, political parties
- in
- Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy (CRISPP)
- volume
- 26
- issue
- 4
- pages
- 437 - 460
- publisher
- Taylor & Francis
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85086939989
- ISSN
- 1369-8230
- DOI
- 10.1080/13698230.2020.1782047
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- a40dff04-743c-45b6-9735-1519c3a4d8ef
- date added to LUP
- 2020-03-23 16:44:57
- date last changed
- 2023-10-05 15:10:04
@article{a40dff04-743c-45b6-9735-1519c3a4d8ef,
abstract = {{In their efforts to prevent democratic backsliding, militant democrats have traditionally been sympathetic to technocratic arrangements. Does this sympathy imply a logical congruence? Comparing theories of militant democracy and epistemic technocracy (aka epistocracy), I discover a common approach to basic aspects of representative democracy. Both theories see voters as fallible or ignorant instead of capable political agents; and they both understand political parties to be channels of state rule rather than democratic expression. This shared suspicion of grassroots political agency explains why they employ non-democratic means to pursue their goals. But the two theories appear to be also analytically co-extensive. Like militant democrats, epistemic technocrats polemicize antidemocrats inasmuch as the latter are proxies for epistemically foul decision-making. Conversely, militant democrats try to block ‘incorrect’ decisions as long as these lead to democratic subversion, thereby producing a distinct type of militant technocracy. The article ends by drawing the implications of this symbiosis of epistemic and militant democratic ideas for contemporary democratic theory.}},
author = {{Malkopoulou, Anthoula}},
issn = {{1369-8230}},
keywords = {{political theory; militant democracy; epistocracy; conception of voters; political parties}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{4}},
pages = {{437--460}},
publisher = {{Taylor & Francis}},
series = {{Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy (CRISPP)}},
title = {{What militant democrats and technocrats share}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13698230.2020.1782047}},
doi = {{10.1080/13698230.2020.1782047}},
volume = {{26}},
year = {{2023}},
}