Ruling as Knowers: Political Legitimacy between Epistemic and Civic Accountability (2025 - 2027)

Abstract

Does the authoritativeness of democratic decisions depend on the competence of the electorate? The idea is taken to be either incompatible with fundamental democratic values or premised on a purely instrumental outlook on political legitimacy. The project outlines an alternative approach to the issue, centred on the idea that co-participation in democratic decision-making jointly commits citizens to uphold significant epistemic responsibilities. On the resulting view, while legitimate political decision-making does require epistemic preconditions and constraints, the rationale is not the achievement of ‘better’ political outcomes but rather the achievement of a proper collective co-authorship of political decisions.

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