How American Democracy Can Be Renovated
In my last newsletter piece two weeks ago, I contrasted a vision of sociopolitical “abundance” as posited by Ezra Klein et al. and Danielle Allen’s “empowerment as abundance” agenda via the practice of what she calls “power-sharing liberalism.” While the world reels from the faux “liberation” of Trump’s senseless tariffs and the destruction of eighty years of Western alliances, it may seem like playing violins on the Titanic to focus on a suite of ideas to renovate our fragile American democracy. But don’t get it twisted: the eight musicians who continued to play on that ill-fated ocean liner, helping the passengers cope with their demise, were tragically heroic. Likewise, we’ll continue to play mystic chords of memory as we aspire to the better angels of our nature.
I think we’ll survive the precipitous decline of world markets, where, in just two days last week, more than $6 trillion in value was lost. I certainly hope and pray so. Yet, to ascend beyond mere survival to democratic thriving, a eudaimonic vision such as Allen’s is worth serious consideration. That’s why I appreciate her providing permission to share an excerpt of her ecosystem of concepts from the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation:
Danielle Allen
Justice by Means of Democracy: The surest path to a just society in which all find the support necessary to flourish is the protection of political equality. Justice is therefore best achieved by means of democracy. Importantly, the social ideals and organizational design principles that flow from recognizing political equality and democracy as fundamental to human well-being provide an alternative framework not only for justice but also for political economy. See the book, Justice by Means of Democracy. See also Amartya Sen's Development as Freedom.
Power-Sharing Liberalism: Liberalism, more broadly, is the philosophical commitment to a government grounded in rights that protect people in their private lives and empower them to help govern public life. Over the course of U.S. history, both Democrats and Republicans have been liberals of various flavors. There have been classical liberals (the more conservative, pro-market variant), New Deal liberals (the big-state Democratic Party variant), and neoliberals (the economically globalizing, democracy-spreading, technocratic variant). Each one has held power at different points in history, shaping U.S. policy in different ways. Each of these variants was also built on intellectual paradigms that led advocates to believe they could advance the rights of all while reserving power to the few. Power-sharing liberalism is instead a reconstructed mode of liberalism based on the principles of full inclusion and non-domination (or non-monopoly) in politics, economy, and society. It strives for a full sharing of power and responsibility for all of us, across all three sectors. It also brings a commitment to a culture of civic engagement and empowerment. See the blog, Introducing Power-sharing Liberalism.
Difference without Domination: The protection of freedom facilitates the emergence of social difference. If social difference comes to articulate with domination, however, it undermines freedom. If we wish to unify the protection of political equality and protection of the other basic liberties, we need to think about a principle to guide our rule-setting for the economic and social realms to avoid the emergence of domination. The relevant principle is “difference without domination.”
In brief, the principle entails that we scrutinize our institutions to diagnose patterns of difference, work to ascertain whether they arise from or support domination, and, if they do, redesign the rules of governance through political institutions, the rules providing undergirding charters for the economy, the rules organizing the micro-interactions of the economy or the organizational protocols of civil society, to remove or at least lessen the operating forces of domination. Many have debated whether discussions of justice should consist of substantive or procedural matters. The argument here is that the job of rule-setting turns the procedural into the substantive and that our rule-setting across all three domains (political, economic, and social) should be guided by the principle of difference without domination. This would permit us to establish a virtuous cycle linking political, social, and economic domains in support of the kind of human flourishing that rests on autonomy, both private and public. See Justice by Means of Democracy, chapter 2 and the book, Difference without Domination.
Egalitarian Participatory Constitutional Democracy: An egalitarian participatory constitutional democracy is not defined simply by majority vote. It is instead defined by mechanisms of participation—a toolkit that includes, but is not limited to, majority vote. This tool kit must give the citizenry final control over collective decision-making. Typically, the anchor of this popular control is the requirement that government decision makers must face elections wherein they gain or retain decision-making rights by winning a vote among eligible voters through majority or plurality rule, with a presumption that the franchise approaches universal adult suffrage among legal citizens.
Majority vote is just one mechanism for operationalizing popular sovereignty. It is one among many mechanisms that might be used for ensuring both that the whole body of the citizenry is steering or setting the direction of the polity and that power has been equalized within the polity. Minority-protecting mechanisms are just as important as majority vote. This tool kit of mechanisms—both majoritarian and minority-protecting ones—must be refined and redesigned over time to respond to demographic changes that constantly impact the balance of power within the citizenry. In this definition of democracy, the steering function of the people taken as a whole—incorporating minorities as well as majorities in that steering—is the core element making democracy, democracy. See chapter 3 of Justice by Means of Democracy. See also Our Declaration.
Empowering Economies: An empowering economy supports people's ability to function as citizens by securing the material bases of empowerment. To paraphrase George Marshall in his announcement of the post–World War II Marshall Plan, we need an economy that works—that delivers growth and productivity and stable transactions and prices (the opposite of Venezuela)—“so as to permit the emergence of political and social conditions in which free institutions can exist." Since 21st-century free institutions incorporate the principle of full inclusion, the goal is not only a dynamic but also an inclusive economy—where all are empowered. There is no room for domination in this economy. Four design principles are key:
First, an empowering economy organizes the productive structure of the economy in accordance with the principle of difference without domination; this means focusing on building an economy around free labor and democracy-supporting firms and aiming for a good-jobs economy.
Second, an empowering economy supports investments in bridging relationships that cut across cleavages that otherwise emerge as a result of market competition or social competition; this commitment orients policy toward productive collaborations among the public sector, market organizations, and nonprofit concerns (including universities), avoiding domination by any one of those sectors.
Third, an empowering economy depends on democratic steering of the economy—through fiscal policy, public-goods investment, chartering authority over monetary policy, and rule-making—rather than on unchecked delegation to technocrats. Experts should be valued advisers but should not themselves rule.
Fourth, an empowering economy rests on charters and rules that protect equal basic liberties, both positive and negative, both directly and indirectly. See chapter 6 in Justice by Means of Democracy and the related essay in Combating Inequality.
Foundations for Flourishing: An empowering economy focuses on integrating all members of society into the productive foundation of society. This integration requires a set of building blocks that form the foundation for an empowering economy. Those building blocks forming the infrastructure of an empowering economy include housing, transportation, good schools, good jobs, justice and safety. These building blocks will support a productive economy and should also be constructed to support a healthy climate, personal and public health, and democracy.
Civic Strength: Healthy constitutional democracies require not only the ability to protect themselves in the international arena (an area of concern for the Council on Foreign Relations), nor only the ability to thrive in a competitive global economy (an area of concern for the Council on Competitiveness) but also social cohesion or, better, social connectedness (an area of concern for the Commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship).
To access the full list of illuminating concepts, click here.
Antagonistic Cooperation Webinar
One way to survive the arbitrary and capricious menace unleashed by the narcissist-in-chief is the courage to embrace and embody “antagonistic cooperation.”
In the context of the Jazz Leadership Project, Jewel and I describe antagonistic cooperation as an attitude and orientation that leverages challenges, conflicts, and competition into growth, learning, and development. To learn more about this essential quality and principle, we invite you to join us for a free one-hour webinar on Friday, April 18th, “Antagonistic Cooperation: Accelerating Growth & Resilience via Conflict and Challenge.”