The Case for Epistocracy

Mainz, Jakob Thrane

4. term

Applied Philosophy, Master

2018

2018-05-31

76

This thesis examines epistocracy—systems that give greater weight to knowledge and political competence—as a proposed alternative to representative democracy. Drawing on Jason Brennan’s Against Democracy (2016) and the empirical findings he highlights, it outlines evidence of widespread voter ignorance and irrationality and considers why this might support institutions that reward well-informed participation. The thesis surveys several institutional designs, including weighted voting based on demonstrated knowledge, restricted suffrage, enfranchisement lotteries with intensive instruction, and simulated oracles. Methodologically, it offers an analytic reconstruction of Brennan’s case and a critical engagement with major objections from Thomas Christiano and Anne Jeffrey, arguing that Brennan can answer these challenges without abandoning the core idea of epistocracy. It also raises the author’s own concerns that are independent of Brennan’s arguments, focusing on feasibility, the risk of misuse, whether epistocracy is the “right medicine,” and whether cost/benefit effects and Burkean considerations counsel caution. The conclusion is that Brennan presents a defensible argument that epistocracy can at least produce electoral outcomes as just as those of democracy, although practical implementation appears unlikely in the near term.

Dette speciale undersøger epistokrati – styreformer, hvor viden og politisk kompetence gives større vægt – som et alternativ til repræsentativt demokrati. Med udgangspunkt i Jason Brennans Against Democracy (2016) og den empiriske forskning, han fremhæver, beskrives, hvordan mange vælgere er politisk ignorante og ofte irrationelle, og hvorfor det kan tale for ordninger, der belønner velinformeret deltagelse. Specialet kortlægger flere mulige institutionelle modeller, herunder vægtede stemmer efter dokumenteret viden, begrænset stemmeret, enfranchisement-lotterier med intensiv undervisning og ”simulerede orakler”. Metodisk består arbejdet af analytisk rekonstruktion af Brennans argumenter samt en kritisk gennemgang af centrale indvendinger fra Thomas Christiano og Anne Jeffrey; i begge tilfælde argumenteres for, at Brennan kan besvare indvendingerne uden at opgive epistokratiets kerneidé. Derudover fremlægger specialet egne bekymringer, der ikke retter sig mod selve argumentet, men mod praktiske forhold: gennemførlighed, risiko for misbrug, om epistokrati er den rette ”medicin”, og om de forventede cost/benefit-effekter og burkeanske hensyn taler for forsigtighed. Konklusionen er, at Brennan fremsætter et holdbart argument for, at epistokrati som minimum kan levere lige så retfærdige valgudfald som demokrati, men at implementering i praksis næppe er nært forestående.

[This apstract has been generated with the help of AI directly from the project full text]

Epistokrati ; Demokrati ; Valg

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