Against Democracy

A fascinating discussion of whether democracy is unjust. Brennan compares political decision-making to jury deliberations, in which a decision is deemed unjust when the jury proceeds incompetently because they either ignored the facts or acted corruptly. He argues that perhaps voting should be more like driving, or becoming a judge, where certain levels of competence are required.

I wish there had been more focus on possible epistocracies (governance by the competent), rather than only one chapter, but it makes sense that it should take nearly a whole book to convince people of the downsides of democracy. For instance, one astonishing fact was that a large majority of people thought that the Marxist slogan “From each according to their ability, to each according to their needs” might be part of the Constitution. Egads. Apparently, there are numerous other studies that show a significant amount of population knows very little about who they are voting for, some even confusing the party platforms.

It's a book well worth reading, both for the overview of various political science studies and for the thoughtful look at alternative forms of government that might better protect people's rights. Highly recommended.