Representing the People: British Democracy in an Age of Political Ignorance
| Author | Phil Parvin |
| DOI | 10.1177/1478929918758572 |
| Published date | 01 November 2018 |
| Date | 01 November 2018 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/1478929918758572
Political Studies Review
2018, Vol. 16(4) 265 –278
© The Author(s) 2018
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DOI: 10.1177/1478929918758572
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Representing the People:
British Democracy in an
Age of Political Ignorance
Phil Parvin
Abstract
The article evaluates the arguments presented in Jason Brennan’s Against Democracy, Ilya Somin’s
Democracy and Political Ignorance and Achen and Bartels’ Democracy for Realists and their implications
for democratic theory and practice. The article uses their work to shine a light on ongoing and
contradictory trajectories of democratic reform in Britain at the local and national levels, and to
argue against the widespread view that British democracy should be reformed in ways that give
citizens more control over political decisions. These books point to ways in which democracy
might be salvaged, rather than replaced, and in which British democracy in particular might be
reformed in order to better meet the challenges of the twenty-first century, by focusing less on
participation and more on representation. This requires a two-pronged strategy. First, that we
reform liberal democratic institutions in ways which better harness the power of non-majoritarian
institutions, strengthen formal epistocratic checks and balances, and embrace the move towards
greater political elitism in order to appropriately constrain the popular will and to ensure rigorous
scrutiny within a traditionally configured representative democratic system. Second, that we
explore ways of incorporating citizens’ voices at different points in the democratic system in order
to circumvent some of the problems these authors describe and to ensure that the strengthening
of representative institutions does not unfairly marginalise citizens.
Achen CH and Bartels LM (2016) Democracy for Realists: Why Elections Do Not Produce Responsive
Government. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Brennan J (2016) Against Democracy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Somin I (2016) Democracy and Political Ignorance: Why Smaller Government Is Smarter, 2nd edn. Palo
Alto, CA: Stanford University Press.
Keywords
Britain, democracy, epistocracy, representation, Brexit, voting
Accepted: 19 January 2018
Department of Politics, History and International Relations, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK
Corresponding author:
Phil Parvin, Department of Politics, History and International Relations, Loughborough University,
Loughborough LE11 3TU, Leicestershire, UK.
Email: p.parvin@lboro.ac.uk
758572PSW0010.1177/1478929918758572Political Studies ReviewParvin
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