When Is Democracy Legitimate?

In a democracy, laws and policies are made through procedures that give citizens an equal role in decision-making.

But why should individuals accept decisions with which they disagree and what makes such decisions legitimate when citizens differ about values, interests, and facts? This course examines how democratic societies justify collectively binding decisions under conditions of disagreement.

The first part of the course explores these questions through selected texts by such authors as Thomas Hobbes, Baruch Spinoza, James Madison, Immanuel Kant, Max Weber, Joseph Schumpeter, Carl Schmitt, Hannah Arendt, and Hélène Landemore.

The second part applies these frameworks to contemporary political decisions, including the Brexit referendum, the 2015 Greek bailout referendum, debates over disinformation and electoral legitimacy in recent elections, tensions between constitutional authority and popular decision-making, and questions of democratic deficit in the European Union.

The course relies heavily on discussion student presentations.

Students are expected to present arguments and complete a final paper applying a theoretical framework to a specific political decision.