Appropriate allocation of authority in diverse democracies. The boundary problem of democratic theory, societal diversity, and subsidiarity

• Autores: Corsin Bisaz
• Localización: Archiv für Rechts-und Sozialphilosophie, ARSP, ISSN 0001-2343, Vol. 101, Nº 1, 2015, págs. 60-74
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • By and large, it is argued that political decisions in a democracy derive their legitimacy from the demos, the democratic people, through a qualified and fair (democratic) procedure. However, the demos cannot be seen as a natural given and its legitimate delimitation has recently become an issue of much debate. This essay supports and defends the view that a demos cannot be 'generally legitimate,' but only with regard to a specific issue. In consequence, the appropriate allocation of authority will be shown to constitute a necessary precondition of democratically legitimate decisions and should thus be seriously considered in a democracy. As a pragmatic approach, this article introduces subsidiarity as a general principle to guide the appropriate allocation of authority in the real world, be it within, between or beyond states.