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Political democracy in the great society

Albert Weale

in Democratic Justice and the Social Contract

Although deliberative theorists sometimes stress the importance of representation, the participatory political institutions of common property resource regimes cannot be directly transferred to great ... More

Although deliberative theorists sometimes stress the importance of representation, the participatory political institutions of common property resource regimes cannot be directly transferred to great societies. A good representative system will combine the functions of aggregation and representation. Political equality directly implies proportional representation. Majority voting in the legislature is the counterpart principle. Even when shifting coalitions of parties are decisive according to the rule of the issue-by-issue median, this does not negate a meaningful sense of deliberative rationality. Liberal constitutionalism cannot plausibly be made consistent with the democratic principle and counter-majoritarian institutions are deficient. The public reasoning of representative democracies involves a contest over the warrant of decision premisses and a bargaining to mutual advantage where disagreement persistsLess