Limited epistocracy and political inclusion

Episteme 15 (4):412-432 (2017)
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Abstract

ABSTRACTIn this paper I defend a form of epistocracy I call limited epistocracy – rule by institutions housing expertise in non-political areas that become politically relevant. This kind of limited epistocracy, I argue, isn't a far-off fiction. With increasing frequency, governments are outsourcing political power to expert institutions to solve urgent, multidimensional problems because they outperform ordinary democratic decision-making. I consider the objection that limited epistocracy, while more effective than its competitors, lacks a fundamental intrinsic value that its competitors have; namely, political inclusion. After explaining this challenge, I suggest that limited epistocracies can be made compatible with robust political inclusion if specialized institutions are confined to issuing directives that give citizens multiple actionable options. I explain how this safeguards citizens’ inclusion through rational deliberation, choice, and contestation.

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Anne Jeffrey
Baylor University

Citations of this work

Are Knowledgeable Voters Better Voters?Michael Hannon - 2022 - Politics, Philosophy and Economics 21 (1):29-54.
Is Epistocracy Irrational?Adam F. Gibbons - 2022 - Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy 21 (2).
Finding the Epistocrats.Brian Kogelmann - 2023 - Episteme 20 (2):497-512.
Epistocracy and the Problem of Political Capture.Adam F. Gibbons - 2025 - Public Affairs Quarterly 39 (1):19-42.
Bad Language Makes Good Politics.Adam F. Gibbons - forthcoming - Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy.

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Wide or narrow scope?John Broome - 2007 - Mind 116 (462):359-370.
Republicanism (RK Fullinwider).P. Pettit - 1997 - Philosophical Books 40 (4):131-132.

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