Against Democracy

What if the greatest threat to good government is the voter? In this short, Jason Brennan challenges the assumption that democracy deserves automatic reverence and argues that political power should be judged by competence rather than symbolism. The problem he identifies is widespread voter ignorance, systematic bias, and the illusion of political control in systems where citizens authorize high-stakes, coercive decisions without meaningful knowledge or influence. Brennan proposes limiting political authority through competence-based constraints, including forms of epistocracy. Ultimately, he argues that justice requires protecting citizens from collective incompetence, not celebrating equal influence regardless of understanding.