School of Historical and Philosophical Studies - Theses
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ItemClosing the gap : justification and de facto authority in democracy( 2003)Acknowledging the normative gulf between the existence of political authority and its justification, I am bridging the gap' with the ideal of political self-authorship. This ideal found its specific flavour in my thesis by offering an account of democracy that is congruent with who we are. Active consent theory does not provide an adequate justification of any legitimate political authority. Residence theories do provide a justification of authority based on territory, which is good, but ultimately does not offer a reasonable alternative for dissenters, nor does it distinguish adequately between just and unjust regimes. Fairness and acceptance of benefits theories suffer from public goods arguments. It is difficult to avoid accepting goods offered by governments as these are usually the ones (such as national defence) that cannot be targeted at specific individuals. Ultimately all of these theories suffer from an inadequate picture of the agential self. The classical view of the radical individual, naturally free, but contracting political relationships, does not cohere with our experience of the world. Following these criticisms, I argue for a more coherent account of selfhood, and therefore political agency. The elements necessary for this account are autonomy-in-relation, and mutual recognition or reciprocity. Such relational elements are not limited to the deeper psycho-dynamic accounts of psychology, as they are also found in cognitive and behavioural accounts of empathy. Here I find a broad support base for my argument for the relational self. I proceed to assess current deliberative accounts for their congruence with this understanding of agency. I settle on the more diverse and sophisticated accounts of deliberative democracy which allow for sustained interaction from a diverse population in institutional and civil society settings, using a wide variety of modes of communication. Although underwritten by constitutional principles, such a vision of democracy is open to the people. It acknowledges the importance of both individual autonomy and recognition of our relational existence. In other words, the political obligations that we have, arise in both being `found' in our associations, as well as being open to the intervention of actors. This dual nature of legitimacy is best acknowledged by the psychological concept of selfhood provided here. In a setting of mutual respect, such deliberative interaction is most congruent with who we are. This means that it is left to members within a particular community to put the content into legislative policy by formal and informal deliberation. This can go some way to providing the basis for a good life for members, whatever that might turn out to be. As I will show, self-authorship, as I define it, is able to provide the normative link between de facto political authority and justification: it can close the gap for political obligation.