EPISTOCRACY ANYONE?

Jason Brennan, Against Democracy (Princeton  & Oxford: Princeton U. Press, 2016) (Bad arguments for a bad conclusion! "From the book jacket: Most people believe democracy is a uniquely just form of government. They believe people have the right to an equal share of political power. And they believe that political participation is good for us--it empowers us, helps us get what we want, and tends to make us smarter, more virtuous, and more caring for one another. These are some of our most cherished ideas about democracy." [Stop there. Those may be true in the abstract as admonishments about democratic government, but not true as to what most of us really believe. So, from the beginning, Brennan sets up to debunk a 'presumption' we all know is false and not presumed by most people.] "In this trenchant book, Brennan argues that democracy should be judged by its results--and the results are not good enough. Just as defendants have a right to a fair trial, citizens have a right to competent government. [Not a very good analogy, period.] But democracy is the rule of the ignorant and the irrational [Is corporate America and the 1 percent ignorant and irrational? I don't think so. And they are the ones in real control.], and it all too often fails short. [But we don't live in a democracy. We live in a 'republic'.] Furthermore, no one has a fundamental right to any share of political power, and excreting powers does most of us little good. [??????] On the contrary, a wide range of social science research shows that political participation and democratic deliberation actually often to make people worse--more irrational, biased, and mean. [WOW!] Given this grim picture, Brennan argues that a new system of government--epistocracy, the rule of the knowledgeable--may be better than democracy, and that it's time to experiment and find out." [You have got to be kidding!] Also, see generally Alan Wolfe, "Voting Wrongs: The Republican war on democracy just got more ingenious--and nastier," New Republic, November 2016). ).