The Power of the Multitude: Answering Epistemic Challenges to Democracy

American Political Science Review, Forthcoming

43 Pages Posted: 26 Sep 2018

See all articles by Samuel Bagg

Samuel Bagg

University of South Carolina - Department of Political Science

Date Written: September 6, 2018

Abstract

Recent years have witnessed growing controversy over the “wisdom of the multitude.” As epistemic critics drawing on vast empirical evidence have cast doubt on the political competence of ordinary citizens, epistemic democrats have offered a defense of democracy grounded largely in analogies and formal results. So far, I argue, the critics have been more convincing. Nevertheless, democracy can be defended on instrumental grounds, and this article demonstrates an alternative approach. Instead of implausibly upholding the epistemic reliability of average voters, I observe that competitive elections, universal suffrage, and discretionary state power disable certain potent mechanisms of elite entrenchment. By reserving particular forms of power for the multitude of ordinary citizens, they make democratic states more resistant to dangerous forms of capture than non-democratic alternatives. My approach thus offers a robust defense of electoral democracy, yet cautions against expecting too much from it — motivating a thicker conception of democracy, writ large.

Keywords: Epistemic Democracy, Epistocracy, Meritocracy, Voter Ignorance, Political Realism

Suggested Citation

Bagg, Samuel, The Power of the Multitude: Answering Epistemic Challenges to Democracy (September 6, 2018). American Political Science Review, Forthcoming , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3245406

Samuel Bagg (Contact Author)

University of South Carolina - Department of Political Science ( email )

349 Gambrell Hall
817 Henderson Street
Columbia, SC 29208
United States

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