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DEMOCRACY IN DECENT NONLIBERAL NATIONS: A DEFENSE
Author(s) -
HERR RANJOO SEODU
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
the philosophical forum
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.134
H-Index - 15
eISSN - 1467-9191
pISSN - 0031-806X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9191.2009.00332.x
Subject(s) - democracy , liberal democracy , oppression , political science , representative democracy , liberalism , law and economics , law , political economy , sociology , politics
Western democracy theorists accept the “liberal democracy thesis” and claim that the only morally justifiable conception of democracy is liberal democracy regulated by substantive liberal values. According to this thesis, democracy not regulated by liberal values in nonliberal nations, if at all feasible, necessarily leads to the oppression of minorities and is therefore morally unjustifiable. This article aims to refute the liberal democracy thesis by arguing that democracy in “decent” nonliberal nations is not only feasible but also morally justifiable.