Territorio

DEMOCRACY.
Normative democratic theory deals with the moral foundations of democracy and democratic institutions. It is distinct from descriptive and explanatorydemocratic theory. It does not offer in the first instance a scientific study of those societies that are called democratic. It aims to provide an account of when and whydemocracy is morally desirable as well as moral principles for guiding the design of democratic institutions. Of course, normative democratic theory is inherentlyinterdisciplinary and must call on the results of political science, sociology and economics in order to give this kind of concrete guidance.

This brief outline of normativedemocratic theory focuses attention on four distinct issues in recent work. First, it outlines some different approaches to the question of why democracy is morally desirable atall. Second, it explores the question of what it is reasonable to expect from citizens in large democratic societies. This issue is central to the evaluation of normativedemocratic theories as we will see. A large body of opinion has it that most classical normative democratic theory is incompatible with what we can reasonably expect fromcitizens. It also discusses blueprints of democratic institutions for dealing with issues that arise from a conception of citizenship. Third, it surveys different accountsof the proper characterization of equality in the processes of representation. These last two parts display the interdisciplinary nature of normative democratic theory.Fourth, it discusses the issue of whether and when democratic institutions have authority and it discusses different conceptions of the limits of democratic authority.