Against epistocracy

Abstract

There has been a recent resurgence in epistocratic arguments against our democratic institutions. Jason Brennan (2009, 2011, 2016) is a popular representative of the approach. Here, I criticise Brennan’s account and offer an alternative analysis of modern democratic societies. I argue that Brennan has not shown that the currently enfranchised are relevantly incompetent such that they ought to be excluded from the franchise. Further, even had he shown this, his proposed solution suffers from the same injustices he diagnoses in democracies. I consider an alternative means of embracing a restrictive franchise.