Political decisions have the potential to greatly impact our lives. Think of decisions in relation to abortion or climate change, for example. This makes political legitimacy an important normative concern. But what makes political decisions legitimate? Are they legitimate in virtue of having support from the citizens? Democratic conceptions of political legitimacy answer in the affirmative. Such conceptions rightly highlight that legitimate political decision-making must be sensitive to disagreements among the citizens. But what if democratic decisions fail to track what there is most reason to do? What if a democratically elected government fails to take measures necessary to protect its population from threats related to climate change? Peter argues that the legitimacy of political decisions doesn't just depend on respect for the citizens' will; and defends a novel hybrid conception of political legitimacy, called the Epistemic Accountability conception. According to this conception, political legitimacy also depends on how political decision-making responds to evidence for what there is most reason to do. The Grounds of Political Legitimacy starts with an overview of the main ways in which philosophers have thought about political legitimacy, and identifies the epistemic accountability conception as an overlooked alternative. It then develops the epistemic accountability conception of political legitimacy and discusses its implications for legitimate political decision-making. Considering the norms that should govern political debate, it examines the role of experts in politics, and probes the responsibilities of democratically elected political leaders and as well as of citizens.
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Fabienne Peter argues that political legitimacy doesn't just depend on respect for the will of the citizens. The Grounds of Political Legitiamacy compares democratic and non-democratic conceptions of legitimacy and develops a novel hybrid conception of the grounds of political legitimacy.
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1. Political Legitimacy
1.1: What makes political decisions legitimate?
1.2: The normative concern with political legitimacy
1.3: The meta-normative perspective
2. The Political Will
2.1: Will-based conceptions of political legitimacy
2.2: Equal political authoritativeness
2.3: The arbitrariness objection
3. Political Factualism
3.1: Fact-based conceptions of political legitimacy
3.2: Making the right decisions
3.3: The accessibility objection
4. Political Cognitivism
4.1: Belief-based conceptions of political legitimacy
4.2: Cognitive political authority
4.3: The epistemic underdetermination objection
5. A Hybrid Account of the Grounds of Legitimacy
5.1: Going hybrid
5.2: Epistemic constraints on the political will
5.3: Responding to epistemic underdetermination
6. Political Deliberation
6.1: Justificationism about political legitimacy
6.2: Political justification and political deliberation
6.3: Well-ordered political deliberation
7. Epistemic Norms of Political Deliberation
7.1: Epistemic accountability in political deliberation
7.2: The justified belief norm
7.3: The responsiveness norm
8. Political Deference
8.1: What is political deference?
8.2: When is political deference required?
8.3: The limits of political deference
9. Responding to Political Disagreements
9.1: Political disagreements
9.2: Political disagreements and political justification
9.3: Why democracy?
Epilogue
Bibliography
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The book does an excellent job of inspiring exploration into the epistemic dimensions of political legitimacy.
Fabienne Peter is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Warwick, specialising in moral and political philosophy and social epistemology. She has previously held positions at Harvard University and at the University of Basel, and she has held visiting positions at the Research School of Social Sciences at ANU and the Murphy Institute at Tulane University. She is the author of Democratic Legitimacy and a co-editor of Rationality and
Commitment (OUP, with Hans Bernhard Schmid), and Public Health, Ethics, and Equity (OUP, with Sudhir Anand and Amartya Sen).
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Offers an illuminating perspective on political legitimacy
Addresses pressing issues such as the role of experts in politics, political disagreements, and the justification of democracy
Forges links between political philosophy and and other areas of philosophy
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780198872382
Publisert
2023
Utgiver
Vendor
Oxford University Press
Vekt
538 gr
Høyde
21 mm
Bredde
163 mm
Dybde
240 mm
Aldersnivå
UP, 05
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Innbundet
Antall sider
256
Forfatter