DEMOCRACY

Defining democracy as a system of government in which important choices in public policy depend, in a systematic way, upon public opinion, Albert Weale argues that its key justification is its capacity to enable members of society to advance their common interests as political equals in a situation of human fallibility. Contrasting this justification with accounts of democracy based on the idea of autonomy, he argues that a satisfactory theory of democracy must presuppose the existence, at least to some degree, of common purpose among the citizens. The book elaborates this account of democratic government in relation to models of democracy ranging from accounts of direct democracy, inspired by Rousseau, to liberal constitutionalist theories that stress the importance of limited government.