Democracy Defended [Hardcover]

A theoretical and empirically spirited defence of democratic governance.Is there such a thing as the public good? A number of noted scholars have questioned the effectiveness and fairness of democratic voting. In this book Gerry Mackie confronts these doubts about democratic governance. He examines their claims in details, and finds that almost every one is erroneous and none is normatively troubling. Mackie concludes that such views of democracy are neither theoretically nor empirically warranted, and mounts a fierce defence of democratic institutions.Is there such a thing as the public good? A number of noted scholars have questioned the effectiveness and fairness of democratic voting. In this book Gerry Mackie confronts these doubts about democratic governance. He examines their claims in details, and finds that almost every one is erroneous and none is normatively troubling. Mackie concludes that such views of democracy are neither theoretically nor empirically warranted, and mounts a fierce defence of democratic institutions.Is there a public good? A prevalent view in political science is that democracy is unavoidably chaotic, arbitrary, meaningless, and impossible. Such scepticism began with Condorcet in the eighteenth century, and continued most notably with Arrow and Riker in the twentieth century. In this powerful book, Gerry Mackie confronts and subdues these long-standing doubts about democratic governance. Problems of cycling, agenda control, strategic voting, and dimensional manipulation are not sufficiently harmful, frequent, or irremediable, he argues, to be of normative concern. Mackie also examines every serious empirical illustration of cycling and instability, including Rikers famous argument that the US Civil War was due to arbitrary dimensional manipulation. Almost every empirical claim is erroneous, and none is normatively troubling, Mackie says. This spirited defence of democratic institutions should prove both provocative and influential.1. AlÄ