How to be a Citizen: Agency, Justice, and Truth in Democratic Politics
Publisher
The University of Arizona.Rights
Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction, presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author.Abstract
This dissertation develops a theory of the moral demands of citizenship in large-scale democracies. It addresses two core questions. The first question is: why should citizens participate in democratic politics despite the fact that their chances of deciding the outcomes of elections is vanishingly small? I answer that citizens must participate in order to do their fair shares of the demands of making their laws and political institutions more just. The second question is: how should citizens participate in light of the existence of widespread moral and philosophical disagreement in all large-scale democracies? I argue that citizens ought to advance conceptions of justice that take proper account of the ideal of public reason.Type
textElectronic Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D.Degree Level
doctoralDegree Program
Graduate CollegePhilosophy