Epistemic Feature of Democracy: the Role of Expert in Democratic Decision Making

Abstract

In her book Democracy and Truth: The Conflict between Political and Epistemic Virtues, Snježana Prijić Samaržija advocates that a purely procedural justification which defines the authority and legitimacy of democracy only in relation to the fairness of the procedure itself is not enough for a full justification of democracy. Some epistemic values should also be included. This epistemic quality of democracy depends on the quality of the decisions that the democratic procedures produce. In that sense, the author is advocating a hybrid theory that secures harmony between political and epistemic values, favoring deliberative procedure for this purpose, and thus promotes equal respect for both democratic values. In doing so, she is advocating the specific type of division of epistemic labor that I will attempt to critically re-examine here, as well as to bring into question the privileged role of the experts in democratic decision-making.

U svojoj knjizi Demokratija i istina: sukob između političkih i epistemičkih vrlina, Snježana Prijić Samaržija se zalaže za stanovište po kom čisto proceduralno opravdanje, koje definiše autoritet i legitimnost demokratije samo u odnosu na pravičnost same procedure, nije dovoljno za potpuno opravdanje demokratije i da, stoga, treba uključiti i neke epistemičke vrednosti. Ova epistemička vrednost demokratije zavisi od kvaliteta odluka koje demokratske procedure proizvode. U tom smislu autorka se zalaže za hibirnu teoriju koja obezbeđuje sklad između političkih i epistemičkih vrednosti, favorizujući deliberativnu proceduru za tu svrhu, i na taj način promoviše jednako poštovanje obe demokratske vrednosti. Pri tome, autorka zagovara specifičnu vrstu epsitemičke podele rada koju ću ovde pokušati da kritički preispitam, a samim tim i izolovanu ulogu eskperata u demokratskom odlučivanju.