Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T10:33:43.639Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

DEMOCRACY ISN'T THAT SMART (BUT WE CAN MAKE IT SMARTER): ON LANDEMORE'S DEMOCRATIC REASON

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2016

Aaron Ancell
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In her recent book, Democratic Reason, Hélène Landemore argues that, when evaluated epistemically, “a democratic decision procedure is likely to be a better decision procedure than any non-democratic decision procedures, such as a council of experts or a benevolent dictator” (p. 3). Landemore's argument rests heavily on studies of collective intelligence done by Lu Hong and Scott Page. These studies purport to show that cognitive diversity – differences in how people solve problems – is actually more important to overall group performance than average individual ability – how smart the individual members are. Landemore's argument aims to extrapolate from these results to the conclusion that democracy is epistemically better than any non-democratic rival. I argue here that Hong and Page's results actually undermine, rather than support, this conclusion. More specifically, I argue that the results do not show that democracy is better than any non-democratic alternative, and that in fact, they suggest the opposite – that at least some non-democratic alternatives are likely to epistemically outperform democracy.

Type
Articles
Information
Episteme , Volume 14 , Issue 2 , June 2017 , pp. 161 - 175
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Anderson, E. 2008. ‘An Epistemic Defense of Democracy: David Estlund's Democratic Authority.’ Episteme, 5: 129–39.Google Scholar
Bajaj, S. 2014. ‘Review: Landemore, Hélène. Democratic Reason: Politics, Collective Intelligence, and the Rule of the Many.’ Ethics, 124: 426–31.Google Scholar
Cohen, J. 1986. ‘An Epistemic Conception of Democracy.’ Ethics, 97: 26–38.Google Scholar
Estlund, D. 2008a. Democratic Authority: A Philosophical Framework. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Estlund, D. (ed.) 2008b. ‘Epistemic Approaches to Democracy.’ Episteme 5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hong, L. and Page, S. E. 2004. ‘Groups of Diverse Problem Solvers can Outperform Groups of High-Ability Problem Solvers.’ Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 101: 16385–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Landemore, H. 2013. Democratic Reason: Politics, Collective Intelligence, and the Rule of the Many. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Misak, C. 2008. ‘A Culture of Justification: The Pragmatist's Epistemic Argument for Democracy.’ Episteme, 5: 94–105.Google Scholar
Page, S. E. 2007. The Difference: How the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups, Firms, Schools, and Societies. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Skitka, L. J. 2010. ‘The Psychology of Moral Conviction.’ Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 4: 267–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Talisse, R. 2009. Democracy and Moral Conflict. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar