Learning Module

Democracy

MEET YOUR LECTURER

GEOFF PYNN

Geoff Pynn is Associate Professor at Elgin Community College. Previously, he taught at Northern Illinois University (NIU). He teaches on a wide range of topics. His research centers on epistemology. He’s also interested in creating connections between professional philosophers and ordinary people.
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From 2011 to 2017, he was the Graduate Adviser for NIU’s successful MA program in Philosophy. He maintains a listing of funding at MA programs in the US and Canada.

Lessons

1.

The Anarchist’s Challenge

2.

The Basis of State Authority

3.

Can Democracy Survive?

4.

Justifying Democracy

5.

Rousseau’s Defense of Democracy

6.

Liberalism

7.

Liberty and the Harm Principle

8.

Promoting Positive Liberty

9.

Representative Democracy

10.

Must Voters Be Knowledgeable?

11.

The Jury Theorem

12.

Do You Have A Duty To Vote?

13.

Public Reason

14.

Deliberative Democracy

Module Introduction

It is a modern truism that democracy is the best form of government. But this is a recent development. For most of recorded history, democracy has been viewed with great suspicion. Even today, many people who support democracy would be hard-pressed to explain why. Join Geoff Pynn as we explore the philosophical foundations of democracy, examine the arguments of some of its most influential defenders, and consider some of the challenges democracies face.

Learning Outcomes

  • Explain the problem of political legitimacy.
  • Consider the arguments of Mozi and Hobbes for the necessity of the state.
  • Describe Plato’s influential argument that democracy inevitably leads to its own breakdown.
  • Evaluate Rousseau’s view that democratic elections reveal what is truly best for society.
  • Discuss Mill’s utilitarian defense of representative democracy as the system that is best for individual happiness.
  • Define liberalism as a political philosophy.
  • Evaluate various defenses of democracy as the best form of government.
  • Consider the argument that you have a duty to vote.
LESSON ONE

The Anarchist’s Challenge

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

  • Lorem ipsum 

Watch

Comprehending the argument

1. “The anarchist’s challenge” concerns:

Please select 2 correct answers

Correct! Wrong!


2. Hobbes argued that in the state of nature, there would be no need to establish state authority.

Correct! Wrong!

Without a powerful central authority to enforce common rules, Hobbes thought human society would inevitably become a war of all against all.

LESSON TWO

The Basis of State Authority

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

  • Lorem ipsum

Watch

Comprehending the argument

What is the social contract?
An agreement among all citizens to obey the law, in exchange for everyone else’s promise to do the same.
What is tacit consent?
Consent that is given without being expressed.
What is a freeloader?
Someone who enjoys the benefits of cooperation without cooperating themselves.

1. John Locke thought that you consented to a state authority by:

Correct! Wrong!

LESSON THREE

Can Democracy Survive?

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

  • Lorem ipsum

Watch

Comprehending the argument

1. Plato argued that:

Please select 2 correct answers

Correct! Wrong!

2. Why did Plato think democracy was a bad idea?

1.
Ordinary people act foolishly and selfishly.
2.
Demagogues gain power by manipulating people.
3.
Once elected, demagogues become tyrants.

3. What conditions did Plato impose on society’s guardians?

1.
No private property
2.
No marriage or family
3.
Communal housing
LESSON FOUR

Justifying Democracy

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

  • Lorem ipsum

Watch

Comprehending the argument

Intrinsic justification for democracy says that…
Legitimate states must be democracies.
Instrumental justification for democracy says that…
Democracies are the most effective states.

1. If a state is not legitimate, then:

Correct! Wrong!

LESSON FIVE

Rousseau's Defense of Democracy

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

  • Lorem ipsum

Watch

Comprehending the argument

Your particular will
What is in your self-interest.
The general will
What is in society’s best interests.

1. Which of these did Rousseau think was incompatible with democracy?

Please select 4 correct answers

Correct! Wrong!

LESSON SIX

Liberalism

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

  • Lorem ipsum

Watch

Comprehending the argument

1. A liberal state is one where:

Correct! Wrong!


2. Which of these reasons would justify forcibly restraining you, according to Mill’s Harm Principle?

Correct! Wrong!


3. Mill defended freedom of speech on the grounds that:

Please select 2 correct answers

Correct! Wrong!

LESSON SEVEN

Liberty and the Harm Principle

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

  • Lorem ipsum

Watch

Comprehending the argument

Liberty
The moral right to be free.
Liberalism
States must protect and promote liberty.
Libertarianism
A form of liberalism that strictly adheres to the Harm Principle.

1. Liberals accept that the state can limit our liberty because:

Correct! Wrong!

LESSON EIGHT

Promoting Positive Liberty

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

  • Lorem ipsum

Watch

Comprehending the argument

Negative liberty
Being unconstrained from acting as you see fit.
Positive liberty
Having the ability to act as you see fit.
LESSON NINE

Representative Democracy

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

  • Lorem ipsum

Watch

Comprehending the argument

Direct democracy
Citizens vote on what the laws should be.
Representative democracy
Citizens vote for representatives who decide what the laws should be.

1. Which of the following reasons did Mill give in support of representative democracy?

Please select 2 correct answers

Correct! Wrong!

LESSON TEN

Must Voters Be Knowledgeable?

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

  • Lorem ipsum

Watch

Comprehending the argument

1. John Stuart Mill thought that:

Correct! Wrong!


2. According to the video, what negative effect may arise from knowledge-based voting restrictions?

Correct! Wrong!

LESSON ELEVEN

The Jury Theorem

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

  • Lorem ipsum

Watch

Comprehending the argument

1. According to the video, the Jury Theorem has been used to argue that:

Correct! Wrong!

2. The Jury Theorem implies that:

If the average citizen is 51% likely to be correct…
the outcome of an election is likely to be correct.
If the average citizen is 49% likely to be correct…
the outcome of an election is likely to be incorrect.
LESSON TWELVE

Do You Have A Duty To Vote?

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

  • Lorem ipsum

Watch

Comprehending the argument

1/100,000,000
A common estimate of the chance your vote would sway a US presidential election.
Expected value
A concept used to assess the rationality of decisions made in uncertain circumstances.

1. “If everybody stayed home instead of voting, the whole system would collapse—so you have a duty to vote!” According to the video, what’s wrong with this argument?

Correct! Wrong!

LESSON THIRTEEN

Public Reason

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

  • Lorem ipsum

Watch

Comprehending the argument

Public reason
A standard of political legitimacy according to which a policy or law counts as politically legitimate when all reasonable people would consent to it.

1. If you hypothetically consent to something, this means that…

Correct! Wrong!

LESSON FOURTEEN

Deliberative Democracy

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

  • Lorem ipsum

Watch

Comprehending the argument

Deliberation
Occurs before democratic decisions are made.
Voting
Brings deliberation to an end.

1. Proponents of deliberative democracy say that it helps people…

Please select 3 correct answers

Correct! Wrong!