Skip to main content
Log in

Every Vote Counts: Equality, Autonomy, and the Moral Value of Democratic Decision-Making

  • Published:
Res Publica Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

What is the moral value of formal democratic decision-making? Egalitarian accounts of democracy provide a powerful answer to this question. They present formal democratic procedures as a way for a society of equals to arrive at collective decisions in a transparent and mutually acceptable manner. More specifically, such procedures ensure and publicly affirm that all members of a political community, in their capacity as autonomous actors, are treated as equals who are able and have a right to participate in collective decision-making. Recently, a number of authors have raised what I describe as the ‘no impact’ objection. This objection focuses on the egalitarian emphasis on autonomy to cast doubt on the moral value of formal democratic procedures. It holds that individual participation in formal democratic decision-making has no impact on the eventual result, and therefore cannot be understood as an exercise in autonomy. Consequently, the ‘no impact’ objection claims that the moral value of formal democracy cannot be explained with reference to an egalitarian ideal of ‘rule by the people’. In this article, I refute this objection by complementing an egalitarian account of democracy with an account of basic autonomy.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. For more on the role of lotteries in democratic processes, see Buchstein (2010) and Saunders (2012).

  2. For some of the major contributions to the debate about deliberative democracy, see Habermas (1996), Elster (1998), Goodin (2008), Gutmann and Thompson (2004), Parkinson and Mansbridge (2012).

  3. For an overview of the more recent debates, see Anderson and Christman (2005a), Mackenzie and Stoljar (2000b).

  4. For the discussion about a minimal threshold of autonomy, see also Christman (2005, pp. 346–350), Dworkin (1989, p. 61), Gaus (2005, pp. 296–298), and Raz (1986, pp. 372–373).

  5. See also Anderson and Honneth (2005), Christman (2014).

  6. For an overview of the empirical research on voter turnout, see Lijphart (1997), Geys (2006), and Norris (2011).

References

  • Altman, Andrew, and Christopher H. Wellman. 2009. A liberal theory of international justice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, Elizabeth S. 2009. Democracy: Instrumental vs. non-instrumental value. In Contemporary debates in political philosophy, ed. Thomas Christiano, and John Christman, 213–227. Malden: Blackwell.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, Joel, and John Christman (eds.). 2005a. Autonomy and the challenges to liberalism: New essays. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, Joel, and John Christman. 2005b. Introduction. In Autonomy and the challenges to liberalism: New essays, ed. Joel Anderson, and John Christman, 1–23. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, Joel, and Axel Honneth. 2005. Autonomy, vulnerability, recognition, and justice. In Autonomy and the challenges to liberalism: New essays, ed. Joel Anderson, and John Christman, 127–149. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Arneson, Richard J. 2003. Defending the purely instrumental account of democratic legitimacy. The Journal of Political Philosophy 11: 122–132.

  • Brennan, Jason. 2011. The ethics of voting. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buchanan, Allen. 1998. Democracy and secession. In National self-determination and secession, ed. Margaret Moore, 14–33. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Buchanan, Allen. 2004. Justice, legitimacy, and self-determination: Moral foundations for international law. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buchstein, Hubertus. 2010. Reviving randomness for political rationality: Elements of a theory of aleatory democracy. Constellations 17: 435–454.

  • Christiano, Thomas. 2008. The constitution of equality. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Christman, John. 1989. Introduction. In The inner citadel, ed. John Christman, 3–23. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Christman, John. 2005. Autonomy, self-knowledge, and liberal legitimacy. In Autonomy and the challenges to liberalism: New essays, ed. Joel Anderson, and John Christman, 330–357. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Christman, John. 2009. The politics of persons: Individual autonomy and socio-historical selves. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Christman, John. 2014. Relational autonomy and the social dynamics of paternalism. Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 17: 369–382.

  • Cohen, Joshua. 2006. Is there a human right to democracy? In The egalitarian conscience: Essays in honour of G. A. Cohen, ed. Christine Sypnowich, 226–250. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Downs, Anthony. 1957. An economic theory of democracy. New York: Harper & Brothers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dworkin, Gerald. 1989. The concept of autonomy. In The inner citadel, ed. John Christman, 54–62. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dworkin, Ronald. 2011. Justice for hedgehogs. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elster, Jon (ed.). 1998. Deliberative democracy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Estlund, David. 2007. Democratic authority: A philosophical framework. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feinberg, Joel. 1986. The moral limits of the criminal law. Vol. 3: Harm to self. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frankfurt, Harry G. 1971. Freedom of the will and the concept of a person. The Journal of Philosophy 68: 5–20.

  • Gaus, Gerald F. 2005. The place of autonomy within liberalism. In Autonomy and the challenges to liberalism: New essays, ed. Joel Anderson, and John Christman, 272–306. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Geys, Benny. 2006. Explaining voter turnout: A review of aggregate-level research. Electoral Studies 25: 637–663.

  • Goodin, Robert E. 2008. Innovating democracy: Democratic theory and practice after the deliberative turn. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Griffin, Christopher G. 2003. Democracy as a non-instrumentally just procedure. The Journal of Political Philosophy 11: 111–121.

  • Gutmann, Amy, and Dennis Thompson. 2004. Why deliberative democracy? Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Habermas, Jürgen. 1987. The theory of communicative action, Vol. 2: Lifeworld and system: A critique of functionalist reason. Boston: Beacon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Habermas, Jürgen. 1996. Between facts and norms: Contributions to a discourse theory of law and democracy. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Habermas, Jürgen. 2013. The crisis of the European Union: A response. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lijphart, Arend. 1997. Unequal participation: Democracy’s unresolved dilemma. The American Political Science Review 91: 1–14.

  • Mackenzie, Catriona, and Natalie Stoljar. 2000a. Introduction. Autonomy refigured. In Relational autonomy. Feminist perspectives on autonomy, agency, and the social self, ed. Catriona Mackenzie, and Natalie Stoljar, 3–31. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mackenzie, Catriona, and Natalie Stoljar (eds.). 2000b. Relational autonomy: Feminist perspectives on autonomy, agency, and the social self. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Norris, Pippa. 2011. Democratic deficit: Critical citizens revisited. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Parkinson, John, and Jane J. Mansbridge (eds.). 2012. Deliberative systems: Deliberative democracy at the large scale. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pettit, Philip, and David Schweikard. 2006. Joint actions and group agents. Philosophy of the Social Sciences 36: 18–39.

  • Raz, Joseph. 1986. The morality of freedom. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saunders, Ben. 2012. Combining lotteries and voting. Politics, Philosophy & Economics 11: 347–351.

  • de Tocqueville, Alexis. 2004. Democracy in America [1835]. New York: Library of America.

    Google Scholar 

  • Waldron, Jeremy. 1999. Law and disagreement. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

I wish to thank Eva Deitert, Luise Müller, Sophia Obermeyer, Cord Schmelzle, the two anonymous reviewers and the Editors of Res Publica for their valuable comments, which were of great help in developing my arguments. I gratefully acknowledge funding provided by the German Research Council within the framework of the research centre ‘Governance in Areas of Limited Statehood’ at the Freie Universität Berlin.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniel Jacob.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Jacob, D. Every Vote Counts: Equality, Autonomy, and the Moral Value of Democratic Decision-Making. Res Publica 21, 61–75 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11158-014-9262-x

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11158-014-9262-x

Keywords

Navigation