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        Democratic Legitimacy and the Competence Obligation

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        Democratic_Legitimacy_and_the_Competence_Obligation_FINAL_PhilPapers.pdf (PDF, 219Kb)
        Author
        Malcolm, Finlay
        Attention
        2299/22866
        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 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.
        Publication date
        2021-04-01
        Published in
        Moral Philosophy and Politics
        Published version
        https://doi.org/10.1515/mopp-2019-0036
        Other links
        http://hdl.handle.net/2299/22866
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