Democratic Legitimacy and the Competence Obligation

Content Provider	Scilit
Author	Malcolm, Finlay
Copyright Year	2019
Abstract	What obligations are there on voters? This paper argues that voters should make their electoral decision competently, and does so by developing on a recent proposal for democratic legitimacy. It then explores three problems arising from this ‘competency obligation’. First, how should voters be competent? I propose three conditions required for voter competence. Second, how competent should voters be? I argue that the competency required tracks the significance of the consequences of the vote. Third, if the electorate are unlikely to deliver a competent decision, should suffrage be restricted to the competent alone? I defend unrestricted suffrage on the grounds that restricting suffrage cannot guarantee a competently made electoral decision. Instead, obligations on voters should be minimised by political parties satisfying their obligations to be politically sound; if they are sound, then the obligation to be competent can be easily satisfied by voters.
Related Links	http://www.degruyter.com/downloadpdf/j/mopp.ahead-of-print/mopp-2019-0036/mopp-2019-0036.xml
Ending Page	130
Page Count	22
Starting Page	109
ISSN	21945616
e-ISSN	21945624
DOI	10.1515/mopp-2019-0036
Journal	Moral Philosophy and Politics
Issue Number	1
Volume Number	8
Language	English
Publisher	Walter de Gruyter GmbH
Publisher Date	2021-04-27
Access Restriction	Open
Subject Keyword	Moral Philosophy and Politics Applied Ethics Philosophy Elections Democratic Legitimacy Competence Suffrage Epistocracy Voter Obligations Journal: Moral Philosophy and Politics, Vol- 8, Issue- 1
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	History and Philosophy of Science Sociology and Political Science Philosophy