Counter-Democracy

Jeremy Waldron here attempts to restore the good name of legislation in political theory. Focused in particular on the writings of Aristotle, Locke and Kant, this book recovers and highlights ways of thinking about legislation that present it as a dignified mode of governance and a respectable source of law. The focus is particularly on legislation by assemblies, large gatherings of representatives who air their disagreements in ferocious debate and make laws by deliberation and voting. Jeremy Waldron has published extensively in law, philosophy and political theory. Here he presents a unique study of the place of legislation in the canon of political thought - a study which emphasises the positive features of democracy and representative assemblies. The Dignity of Legislation is original in conception, trenchantly argued and very clearly presented, and will be of interest to a wide range of scholars and thinkers. Half-title Title Copyright Contents Foreword Introduction The society of distrust The three dimensions of counter-democracy The myth of the passive citizen Depoliticization or the unpolitical? Reinterpreting the history of democracy Part 1 Overseeing democracy 1 Vigilance, denunciation, evaluation Vigilance Denunciation Evaluation 2 The overseers The vigilant citizen The new activism The Internet as a political form Functional surveillance by authorities Internal audit and evaluation bureaus 3 The thread of history Three stages Democratic dualism: a long history The impossibility of institutionalization 4 Legitimacy conflicts The pen and the podium Three types of legitimacy New routes to legitimacy Part 2 The sovereignty of prevention 5 From the right of resistance to complex sovereignty Medieval theories of resistance and consent The Reformation The Enlightenment, the negative power, and the tribunes of the people The French revolutionary experience Fichte and the idea of a modern ephorate A significant oversight 6 Self-critical democracies The class struggle as negative politics The metamorphoses of the opposition The rebel, the resister, and the dissident The decline of the critical dimension in democracies 7 Negative politics The age of “deselection” Prevention and veto Weak democracy Part 3 The people as judge 8 Historical references The Greek example English impeachment The recall procedure in the United States 9 Almost legislators The democratic jury The production of competing norms Shadow legislators 10 The preference for judgment The judicialization of politics The imperative of justification An obligatory decision The active spectator Theatricality Space for the exemplary Voting and judging Part 4 Unpolitical democracy 11 The sense of powerlessness and symbols of depoliticization The age of the unpolitical The horizon of transparency Two forms of depoliticization 12 The populist temptation A pathology of electoral-representative democracy Populism and counter-democracy 13 Lessons of unpolitical economy A word returns The economic function of surveillance The market, or the triumph of the veto “Unpolitical” economy 14 Conclusion: the modern mixed regime New paths of electoral-representative democracy Consolidating counter-democracy Repoliticizing democracy The mixed modern regime The scholar and the citizen Index Proposing A New Kind Of Feminism That Is Genuinely International, Martha Nussbaum Argues For An Ethical Underpinning To All Thought About Development Planning And Public Policy, And Dramatically Moves Beyond The Abstractions Of Economists And Philosophers To Embed Thought About Justice In The Concrete Reality Of The Struggles Of Poor Women. In This Book, Nussbaum Argues That International Political And Economic Thought Must Be Sensitive To Gender Difference As A Problem Of Justice, And That Feminist Thought Must Begin To Focus On The Problems Of Women In The Third World. Taking As Her Point Of Departure The Predicament Of Poor Women In India, She Shows How Philosophy Should Undergird Basic Constitutional Principles That Should Be Respected And Implemented By All Governments, And Used As A Comparative Measure Of Quality Of Life Across Nations. Nussbaum Concludes By Calling For A New International Focus To Feminism, And Shows Through Concrete Detail How Philosophical Arguments About Justice Really Do Connect With The Practical Concerns Of Public Policy. Introduction : Feminism And International Development -- Ch. 1. In Defense Of Universal Values -- Ch. 2. Adaptive Preferences And Women's Options -- Ch. 3. The Role Of Religion -- Ch. 4. Love, Care, And Dignity. Martha C. Nussbaum. Includes Bibliographical References And Indexes. The first John Robert Seeley lectures, given by James Tully in 1994, address the six types of demands for cultural recognition that constitute the most intractable conflicts of the present age: supranational associations, nationalism and federalism, linguistic and ethnic minorities, feminism, multiculturalism and Aboriginal self government. Neither the prevailing schools of modern Western constitutionalism nor post-modern constitutionalism provide a just way of adjudicating such diverse claims to recognition because they rest on untenable assumptions inherited from the age of European imperialism. However, by means of a historical and critical survey of four hundred years of European and non-European constitutionalism, with special attention to the American Aboriginal peoples, Tully develops a post-imperial philosophy and practice of constitutionalism. This consists in the conciliation of claims for recognition over time through constitutional dialogues in which citizens reach agreements on appropriate forms of accommodation of their cultural differences, guided by common constitutional conventions. This form of constitutionalism has the capacity to mediate contemporary conflicts and bring peace to the twenty-first century. Proposing a new kind of feminism that is genuinely international, Martha Nussbaum argues for an ethical underpinning to all thought about development planning and public policy, and dramatically moves beyond the abstractions of economists and philosophers to embed thought about justice in the concrete reality of the struggles of poor women. In this book, Nussbaum argues that international political and economic thought must be sensitive to gender difference as a problem of justice, and that feminist thought must begin to focus on the problems of women in the third world. Taking as her point of departure the predicament of poor women in India, she shows how philosophy should undergird basic constitutional principles that should be respected and implemented by all governments, and used as a comparative measure of quality of life across nations. Nussbaum concludes by calling for a new international focus to feminism, and shows through concrete detail how philosophical arguments about justice really do connect with the practical concerns of public policy. HB ISBN (2000): 0-521-66086-6 The Rights of Others examines the boundaries of political community by focusing on political membership - the principles and practices for incorporating aliens and strangers, immigrants and newcomers, refugees and asylum seekers into existing polities. Boundaries define some as members, others as aliens. But when state sovereignty is becoming frayed, and national citizenship is unravelling, definitions of political membership become much less clear. Indeed few issues in world politics today are more important, or more troubling. In her Seeley Lectures, the distinguished political theorist Seyla Benhabib makes a powerful plea, echoing Immanuel Kant, for moral universalism and cosmopolitan federalism. She advocates not open but porous boundaries, recognising both the admittance rights of refugees and asylum seekers, but also the regulatory rights of democracies. The Rights of Others is a major intervention in contemporary political theory, of interest to large numbers of students and specialists in politics, law, philosophy and international relations. Proposing a new kind of feminism that is genuinely international, Martha Nussbaum argues for an ethical underpinning to all thought about development planning and public policy, and dramatically moves beyond the abstractions of economists and philosophers to embed thought about justice in the concrete reality of the struggles of poor women. In Women and Human Development, Nussbaum argues that international political and economic thought must be sensitive to gender difference as a problem of justice, and that feminist thought must begin to focus on the problems of women in the third world. Using Indian women as her case study, she shows how philosophy should undergird basic constitutional principles and be used as a measure of quality of life across nations. Nussbaum concludes by calling for a new international focus to feminism, and shows through concrete detail how philosophical arguments about justice really do connect with the practical concerns of public policy. "The Rights of Others examines the boundaries of political community by focusing on political membership - the principles and practices for incorporating aliens and strangers, immigrants and newcomers, refugees and asylum seekers, into existing polities. Boundaries define some as members, others as aliens. But when state sovereignty is becoming frayed, and national citizenship is unraveling, definitions of political membership become much less clear. In her Seeley Lectures, political theorist Seyla Benhabib makes a powerful plea, echoing Immanuel Kant, for moral universalism and cosmopolitan federalism. She advocates not open but porous boundaries, recognizing not only the admittance rights of refugees and asylum seekers, but also the regulatory rights of democracies. The Rights of Others is an intervention in contemporary political theory, of interest to students and specialists in politics, law, philosophy, and international relations."--Jacket In this major book Martha Nussbaum, one of the most innovative and influential philosophical voices of our time, proposes a new kind of feminism that is genuinely international, argues for an ethical underpinning to all thought about development planning and public policy, and dramatically moves beyond the abstractions of economists and philosophers to embed thought about justice in the concrete reality of the struggles of poor women. Nussbaum argues that international political and economic thought must be sensitive to gender difference as a problem of justice, and that feminist thought must begin to focus on the problems of women in the third world. Taking as her point of departure the predicament of poor women in India, she shows how philosophy should undergird basic constitutional principles that should be respected and implemented by all governments, and used as a comparative measure of quality of life across nations. "Joseph Raz is one of the world's leading philosophers of law, and in his Seeley Lectures he reflects critically on one of the central tenets of ethical thought, the view that values are universal. How can the latter be so, when evaluative properties are historically or socially dependent? Professor Raz concludes that we should try to understand what is and what is not entailed by the universality of values, with such a proper understanding central to the future hopes of mankind, rather than abandoning the belief altogether. This is a concise, pithy and attractively humane account of some fundamental questions of social existence, enlivened by examples drawn from a wide range of sources, including The Little Prince of Saint-Exupery. It will appeal to students and practitioners of law, philosophy and politics."--Jacket The Rights Of Others Explores The Tension Between Universal Principles Of Human Rights And The Self-determination Claims Of Sovereign States As They Affect The Claims Of Refugees, Asylum Seekers And Immigrants. Few Issues In World Politics Today Are More Important, Or More Troubling, But Morally Acceptable Solutions Do Nonetheless Exist. On Hospitality : Rereading Kant's Cosmopolitan Right -- The Right To Have Rights : Hannah Arendt On The Contradictions Of The Nation-state -- The Law Of Peoples, Distributive Justice, And Migrations -- Transformations Of Citizenship : The European Union -- Democratic Iterations : The Local, The National, And The Global -- Conclusion : Cosmopolitan Federalism. Seyla Benhabib. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 222-238) And Index. The book is a contribution to the study of values, as they affect both our personal and our public life. It defends the view that values are necessarily universal, on the ground that that is a condition of their intelligibility. It does, however, reject most common conceptions of universality, like those embodied in the writings on human rights. It aims to reconcile the universality of value with (a) the social dependence of value and (b) the centrality to our life of deep attachments to people and countries alike. Building from there, the book explores personal love, the value of life, and the fundamental duty of respect for people. The distinguished political philosopher James Tully addresses the demands for cultural recognition that constitute the major conflicts of today, such as nationalism and federalism, the claims of Aboriginal peoples, feminism, linguistic and ethnic minorities. Tully's survey of four hundred years of constitutional practice shows that neither modern nor postmodern constitutionalism can adjudicate such claims justly, and in Strange Multiplicity he instead develops a post-imperial philosophy of constitutionalism capable of bringing peace to the twenty-first century. This book explores the tension between universal principles of human rights and the self-determination claims of sovereign states as they affect the claims of refugees, asylum-seekers and immigrants. Drawing on the work of Kant's "cosmopolitan doctrine" and positions developed by Hannah Arendt, Seyla Benhabib explores how the topic has been analyzed within the larger history of political thought. She argues that many of the issues raised in abstract debate between universalism and multiculturalism can find acceptable solutions in practice.

In a lucid, concise volume, Jeremy Waldron defends the role of legislation, presenting it as an important mode of governance. Aristotle, Locke and Kant emerge as proponents of the dignity of legislation. Waldron's arguments are of obvious importance and topicality, especially in countries that are considering the introduction of a Bill of Rights. The Dignity of Legislation is original in conception, trenchantly argued and very clearly presented, and will be of interest to a wide range of scholars and thinkers.

Joseph Raz is one of the world's leading philosophers of law, and in his Seeley Lectures he reflects critically on one of the central tenets of ethical thought, the view that values are universal. He concludes that we should try to understand what is and what is not entailed by the universality of values, with such an understanding central to the future hopes of mankind, rather than abandoning the belief altogether. This is a concise humane account of some fundamental questions of social existence. Introduction -- The Indignity Of Legislation -- Kant's Positivism -- Locke's Legislature (and Rawls's) -- Aristotle's Multitude -- The Physics Of Consent -- Bibliography. Jeremy Waldron. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 193-202) And Index. Having left the morally worst century of human history we may on occasion seek solace by reflecting on aspects of the recent past which can count as moral advances, as pointers to a more decent future for our species. Focusing on the writings of Aristotle, Locke and Kant, this book recovers and highlights ways of thinking about legislation that present it as a dignified mode of governance and a respectable source of law This book examines the boundaries of political community by focusing on political membership.