30.01.2012
Philip Pettit: Republican justice and democracy
I. The distinction between justice and democracy
II. The priority of democracy over justice
Justice is not the only virtue of political institutions; legitimacy is just as important. After all, it is democracy, not justice, that establishes institutional legitimacy. At least this is the case from a republican view of democracy.
Political institutions may be more just but less democratic, less just but more democratic. So which value is more important? In political theory, which addresses citizens as the makers of institutions, democracy has an important priority.
