Democratic majority principle in trouble?

Democratic Principle and Electoral College Reform

The Nature and Limits of the Majority Principle

The Partiality of the Democracy of the Moderns Analysis of the theory of modern representative systems (which in the twentieth century ended up being called “democracies”), whether it be Hans Kelsen’s or Joseph Schumpeter’s, makes it possible to say – simplifying a little – that what has been called democracy of the moderns consists of the following: in competitive and regular elections, citize...

Embodied Music Cognition: Trouble Ahead, Trouble Behind

These are interesting times for the Embodied Music Cognition (EMC) framework. Briefly summarized, EMC relies upon the hypothesis that embodied sensorimotor engagement is essential to both production and perception of music (Leman, 2008; Leman and Maes, 2014). This hypothesis, while suitable for accommodating different research methods used in empirical musicology (Godøy and Leman, 2010), may be...

How the Principle of Public Equality Introduces Substance in Democratic Proceduralism

In discussions on democratic legitimacy, Christiano’s position is often characterized as a monistic position, i.e. a strong and persuasive version of fair deliberative proceduralism. Democracy is thus seen as a realization of public equality in collective decision-making. The presented case for democracy is non-instrumental, and the quality of outcomes produced by a democratic decision-making p...

Affected and Subjected—The All-Affected Principle in Transnational Democratic Theory

Many transnational democrats support their claims for global democratic reform by appealing to the so-called all-affected principle, stating that everyone who is affected by a decision has a right to participate in making it. Although often identified as a core principle of democratic theory, the allaffected principle is difficult both to interpret and to apply. In the first part of this paper,...