James Lindley Wilson
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780691190914
- eISBN:
- 9780691194141
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691190914.003.0011
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Political Philosophy
This chapter discusses how the influence of wealth in political processes undermines democracy—despite formal equality in voting rights—by promoting the deliberative neglect of poorer citizens. This ...
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This chapter discusses how the influence of wealth in political processes undermines democracy—despite formal equality in voting rights—by promoting the deliberative neglect of poorer citizens. This conflict between the disproportionate influence of the rich and the appropriate consideration of the poor and economically middling results from general conditions of deliberative scarcity. In these conditions, more speech for some—or, more precisely, more consideration for some, provoked by certain kinds of speech—really does come at the expense of consideration for others. Political equality requires a fair division of responsibility among advocates and listeners for ensuring this consideration is granted. Wealth inequality threatens such fairness. The chapter then defends a reformist response to this oligarchic threat in the form of policy solutions aimed at limiting the use of wealth for political power. The difficulty of truly severing economic and political power, however, suggests that political equality may, as a practical matter, be incompatible with great economic inequality, whatever the formal nature of democratic institutions. When one views democracy as primarily about the distribution of formal political power one ignores this practical incompatibility.Less
This chapter discusses how the influence of wealth in political processes undermines democracy—despite formal equality in voting rights—by promoting the deliberative neglect of poorer citizens. This conflict between the disproportionate influence of the rich and the appropriate consideration of the poor and economically middling results from general conditions of deliberative scarcity. In these conditions, more speech for some—or, more precisely, more consideration for some, provoked by certain kinds of speech—really does come at the expense of consideration for others. Political equality requires a fair division of responsibility among advocates and listeners for ensuring this consideration is granted. Wealth inequality threatens such fairness. The chapter then defends a reformist response to this oligarchic threat in the form of policy solutions aimed at limiting the use of wealth for political power. The difficulty of truly severing economic and political power, however, suggests that political equality may, as a practical matter, be incompatible with great economic inequality, whatever the formal nature of democratic institutions. When one views democracy as primarily about the distribution of formal political power one ignores this practical incompatibility.
Daniel H. Levine and Catalina Romero
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804752787
- eISBN:
- 9780804767910
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804752787.003.0008
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This chapter examines the impact of urban citizen movements and people disempowerment on the crisis of democratic representation in Peru and Venezuela. It discusses the demand and perceptions of ...
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This chapter examines the impact of urban citizen movements and people disempowerment on the crisis of democratic representation in Peru and Venezuela. It discusses the demand and perceptions of urban citizens in the era of discredited formal mechanisms of democratic representation and describes how poor citizens attempt to further their interests outside the formal channels of democratic representation when these channels are discredited. This chapter also reflects on the likely future of empowerment and disempowerment for urban citizens and discusses the implications of this perspective for democratic representation.Less
This chapter examines the impact of urban citizen movements and people disempowerment on the crisis of democratic representation in Peru and Venezuela. It discusses the demand and perceptions of urban citizens in the era of discredited formal mechanisms of democratic representation and describes how poor citizens attempt to further their interests outside the formal channels of democratic representation when these channels are discredited. This chapter also reflects on the likely future of empowerment and disempowerment for urban citizens and discusses the implications of this perspective for democratic representation.
