July 21, 2016
Hobbits, Hooligans, and Vulcans
The Princeton University Press blog wrote an independent post on my forthcoming book Against Democracy. They provide a brief overview of the three major types of democratic citizens I discuss, which…
Author: Jason Brennan
July 12, 2016
Democratic Ignorance, Elitism, and How I’m a Populist
Chapter 2 of Against Democracy is titled “Ignorant, Irrational, Misinformed Nationalists.” It argues that voters are…well, go ahead and guess. There are a huge range of studies on voter behavior. These…
July 11, 2016
Is Belief In the Moral Parity Thesis Dangerous? (Probably Not. But Even If So, So What?)
Suppose that I come to believe, stupidly, that taking caffeine is dangerous. I announce henceforth that I will lock any people I catch drinking coffee in my basement for 30…
July 08, 2016
The Fall-Out Objection: Self-Defense vs. War
(Please excuse typos. I’ve got to write this quickly.) We don’t know all the facts yet. But it appears that during the Dallas protests, some attackers killed a number of police…
June 24, 2016
Brexit and Epistocracy: Why a Referendum Is a Dumb Idea
Update: Now in shiny Newsweek edition. I have a post at the Princeton University Press blog on Brexit, Democracy, and Epistocracy. Rather than saying whether the decision was right or wrong, I criticize the…
June 20, 2016
Demagogues and Democracy; Trump and Epistocracy
Zócalo Public Square has discussion today on democracies and the problem of demagogues. Here’s my piece. Excerpt: In a well-functioning democracy, elites and the people keep each other in check. To some…