Reading Group

I would like to thank Micah and Eric for organizing this group.  I would also like to thank Micah for his very careful and insightful summary of Chapter One, “The Value Theory of Democracy.”  I’ll take his second question first.  Micah is right to say that the value theory rejects a sharp distinction between democracy and liberal rights but that it relocates a tension between democratic procedures and substantive rights within the ideal of democracy.  The value theory does not resolve the tension between democracy and substantive rights in the particular sense that it gives neither an absolute weight to either democratic rights or democratic procedure.  Ideally, on my view, democratic procedures will affirm democratic outcomes.  But non-ideal circumstances will arise where democratic procedures violate democratic rights.  I examine such non- ideal cases in chapter seven, which Alon will comment on.  I argue there in favor of a balancing approach between democratic substantive rights and democratic procedures when these non-ideal circumstances arise.

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