Defending the Purely Instrumental Account of Democratic Legitimacy.md

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---
bibtext: @article{arneson2003defending,
  title={Defending the purely instrumental account of democratic legitimacy},
  author={Arneson, Richard J},
  journal={Journal of Political Philosophy},
  volume={11},
  number={1},
  pages={122--132},
  year={2003},
  publisher={Wiley Online Library}
}
---

Defending the Purely Instrumental Account of Democratic Legitimacy

"I hold that what renders the democratic form of government for a nation morally legitimate (when it is) is that its operation over time produces better consequences for people than any feasible alternative mode of governance." p122

A correctness or best account of political legitimacy could assert it is morally legitimate if:

• it reaches the morally best decisions as to which policies to enact,
• it does this over the long haul,
• it produces better results than alternative systems over the long haul.

Authority can be considered as issuing rights over others. Democracy grants these rights to power over others and is justified "just in case assigning these rights maximizes fulfillment of people’s fundamental moral rights. " p127

"My argument provides a reason to classify the right to a democratic say as nonfundamental and moreover to assign this right to a class of purported rights that involve power over the lives of other people. " p126