Political testimony

Han van Wietmarschen
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Han van Wietmarschen: University College London, UK

Politics, Philosophy & Economics, 2019, vol. 18, issue 1, 23-45

Abstract: I argue that reliance on political testimony conflicts with two democratic values: the value of mutual justifiability and the value of equality of opportunity for political influence. Reliance on political testimony is characterized by a reliance on the assertions of others directly on a political question the citizen is asked to answer as part of a formal democratic decision procedure. Reliance on expert testimony generally, even in the context of political decision-making, does not similarly conflict with democratic values. As a consequence of the argument, citizens have a pro tanto reason to rely on their own political judgment when determining their vote, and democratic societies have a reason to only ask citizens questions they are able to answer without reliance on political testimony.

Keywords: testimony; voting; public reason; political influence; political equality; democracy; moral testimony; democratic deliberation; political epistemology (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:pophec:v:18:y:2019:i:1:p:23-45

DOI: 10.1177/1470594X18798062

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