Democratic Reason: Why the Many are Smarter than the Few and Why it Matters

28 Pages Posted: 13 Aug 2009 Last revised: 3 Jun 2011

Date Written: September 14, 2009

Abstract

This paper presents an argument for democracy based on the idea of collective intelligence (connecting numbers and a key ingredient of the phenomenon of collective intelligence, i.e., cognitive diversity). It also suggests different ways, positive and normative, in which this argument should matter for political scientists (particularly democratic theorists and public opinion researchers).

Keywords: epistemic democracy, collective intelligence, wisdom of crowds, majority rule, deliberation, diversity, public opinion research, information

Suggested Citation

Landemore, Helene E., Democratic Reason: Why the Many are Smarter than the Few and Why it Matters (September 14, 2009). APSA 2009 Toronto Meeting Paper, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1449594

Helene E. Landemore (Contact Author)

Yale University ( email )

493 College St
New Haven, CT CT 06520
United States

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