In an insightful recent article on the Liberalism.Org website, prominent libertarian political philosopher Matt Zwolinski argues that libertarians should place a higher value on democracy:
Ask someone what a classical liberal believes, and you'll get a familiar list.
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you → argue → list
Classical liberals stand for private property.
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liberals → stand → property
They stand for free markets and limited government.
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They → stand → markets
They believe in the rule of law, free trade, free speech, and religious toleration.
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They → believe → law
, you'll find something like this list in any textbook summary, or on the "about" page of most classical liberal think tanks.
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you → find → tanks
And it's a good list, as far as it goes.
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it → go → ?
Each of those commitments has a long history in the tradition, and each has been defended by some of its best minds.
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each → have → minds
It's not that classical liberals oppose democracy, exactly.
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liberals → oppose → democracy
Most of us don't.
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Most → do → us
And almost none of us would trade it for any of the alternatives actually on offer.
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none → trade → offer
But democracy isn't what classical liberals are known for.
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liberals → know → what
Indeed, if you spend much time in classical liberal circles, you're much more likely to hear about democracy's defects than about its accomplishments.
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you → spend → accomplishments
We might tolerate democracy, but we rarely sing its praises.
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we → tolerate → praises
My goal in this essay is to argue that democracy belongs on the list, and that it belongs there for the same reason the other items do: because it is a way of keeping power in check.
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it → argue → check
Democracy's distinctive function is to keep power contestable, so that the people who hold it can be removed without violence.
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who → keep → violence
I agree in part, but also differ on some key points.
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I → agree → points
Libertarians should generally prefer democracy to other forms of government.
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Libertarians → prefer → government
And recent events make libertarian critiques of democracy even more important and timely than in the past.
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critiques → make → past
Most libertarian scholars and policy analysts are better-positioned to do the work of explaining why democracy needs to be constrained than to extol its virtues relative to authoritarianism.
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democracy → position → authoritarianism
Others can do the latter task as well or better than we can.
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we → do → task
To avoid terminological confusion, I should note that I prefer to use "libertarian," whereas Zwolinski uses "classical liberal" to denote essentially the same ideology.
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Zwolinski → avoid → ideology
But nothing of significance hinges on this terminological difference.
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nothing → hinge → difference
Elsewhere, I have argued that there is no meaningful distinction between "libertarian" and "classical liberal"; I prefer the former for largely esthetic reasons.
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I → argue → reasons
But I have no beef with people who prefer "classical liberal."
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who → have → liberal
My reservations about Zwolinski's position lie elsewhere.
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reservations → lie → position
Overwhelming empirical evidence shows that people living under democratic governments are generally freer and more affluent than those under authoritarian rule.
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people → show → rule
In particular, democracy deters political leaders from harming the majority of the population in large and obvious ways.
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democracy → deter → ways
To take just one dramatic example, economist Amartya Sen famously found that mass famines never or almost never occur in democracies, while they are all too common under dictatorship.
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they → take → dictatorship
Even ignorant voters will notice a famine is going on, blame incumbent politicians for it, and punish them at the ballot box for it.
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famine → notice → it
The same goes for other large and obvious disasters.
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same → go → disasters
Few libertarians deny these points.
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libertarians → deny → points
I myself have said as much in many of my works critical of democracy, such as my book Democracy and Political Ignorance: Why Smaller Government is Smarter.
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Government → say → book
But it is arguable we should stress them more often.
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we → stress → them
At the same time, it doesn't follow that democracy should be a first-order libertarian priority, on par with liberty, constraining coercion, property rights, and increasing human happiness.
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democracy → follow → happiness
Once you recognize (as most libertarians, and many other liberals do) that democratic government is not genuinely consensual, and that democratically enacted policies are not exempt from moral censure, it becomes hard to argue that democracy is inherently valuable.
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democracy → recognize → censure
Rather, democracy is an institutional tool that can - if properly constrained - help achieve genuinely fundamental values.
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that → constrain → values
All of these can have great instrumental value.
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All → have → value
If a unitary state with no separation of powers and no judicial review could promote liberty and happiness better than available alternatives, libertarians should support it.
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libertarians → promote → it
The same goes for a hypothetical non-democratic state that could do the same.
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that → go → same
Zwolinski criticizes F.A. Hayek for saying in a 1981 interview that he would "prefer a liberal dictator to a democratic government lacking liberalism."
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he → criticize → liberalism
…and 50 more, not listed.
The Aporia
