The Epistocratic Challenge to Democratic Education
Ben Kotzee, University of Birmingham

5 – 6.30pm  (Please note the time change)

Democratic education is education about and for democracy: it is a form of education designed to equip students with the knowledge and skills to take part in the democratic political process and is also designed to instill democratic values amongst them. In both these senses democratic education clearly assumes the value of what it promotes: democracy. Yet, in contemporary political life, democracy has lost some of its shine. During the period 2016 to date, commentators on both sides of the Atlantic have bemoaned, for instance, the election of Donald Trump as 45th president of the United States and the UK’s departure from the European Union following the Brexit referendum; over the last seven years, many have asked whether it is wise to entrust the big political questions to the electorate if the electorate is going to get them wrong.

While the field of (democratic) education often simply assumes the value of democracy, in contemporary political theory, a countercurrent called ‘epistocracy’ questions the fundamental value of the universal franchise. It holds that political decision-making cannot be entrusted to ordinary citizens, because these ordinary citizens lack the political knowledge and motivation to make wise political choices. It holds that it would be better for society if political decisions were made by only that subsection of the population who have sufficient political knowledge. Indeed, it holds that democracy itself constitutes a form of jeopardy: by sharing political decision-making power too widely, democracy exposes the population to risky political decision-making by an ignorant and capricious electorate.

In this presentation, I discuss the case for epistocracy as it unfolds from ancient into modern philosophy and discuss recent defences of epistocracy offered by, for instance, Caplan (2007), Somin (2016), and Brennan (2016). I hold that, whereas epistocracy poses a problem for democratic education, democratic education also poses a problem for the theory of epistocracy. I discuss Brennan (2016) epistocratic programme and hold that, at several crucial points, Brennan’s programme depends on the availability of a form of political education that improves and broadens citizens’ political knowledge and aptitude for taking part in politics. Defending democratic education, I hold that the educational part of Brennan’s programme simply admits broad-based democracy back through the epistocratic educational door.

Daniel Moulin PhD
University Associate Professor, Faculty of Education
Fellow and Director of Studies in Education, Jesus College
University of Cambridge
E: dpm50@cam.ac.uk Tel: 01223 (3)39453