About this item
Most people believe democracy is a uniquely just form of government. They believe people have the right to an equal share of political power. And they believe that political participation is good for us--it empowers us, helps us get what we want, and tends to make us smarter, more virtuous, and more caring for one another. These are some of our most cherished ideas about democracy. But, Jason Brennan says, they are all wrong.In this trenchant book, Brennan argues that democracy should be judged by its results--and the results are not good enough. Just as defendants have a right to a fair trial, citizens have a right to competent government. But democracy is the rule of the ignorant and the irrational, and it all too often falls short. Furthermore, no one has a fundamental right to any share of political power, and exercising political power does most of us little good.
About the Author
Jason Brennan (Ph.D., 2007) is Robert J. and Elizabeth Flanagan Family Professor of Strategy, Economics, Ethics, and Public Policy at the McDonough School of Business, and by courtesy, Professor of Philosophy, at Georgetown University. He specializes in issues at the intersection of politics, philosophy, and economics. He is the author of ten books, including Cracks in the Ivory Tower: The Bad Business of Higher Ed (Oxford 2019) , with Phil Magness; When All Else Fails: The Ethics of Resistance to State Injustice (Princeton 2018) ; In Defense of Openness: Why Global Freedom is the Humane Solution to Global Poverty (Oxford 2018) , with Bas van der Vossen; Against Democracy (Princeton 2016) ; and Markets without Limits (Routledge 2016) . He is currently writing, with Chris Surprenant, Injustice for All: How Financial Incentives Created America's Dysfunctional Criminal Justice System and How to Fix It, for Routledge Press.
