Effective Vote Markets and the Tyranny of Wealth
Res Publica 25 (1):39-54 (2019)
Abstract
What limits should there be on the areas of life that are governed by market forces? For many years, no one seriously defended the buying and selling votes for political elections. In recent years, however, this situation has changed, with a number of authors defending the permissibility of vote markets. One popular objection to such markets is that they would lead to a tyranny of wealth, where the poor are politically dominated by the rich. In a recent paper, Taylor :313–328, 2017. doi: 10.1007/s11158-016-9327-0) has argued that this objection can be avoided if certain restrictions are placed on vote markets. In this paper we will argue that this attempt to rebut an argument against vote markets is unsuccessful. Either vote markets secure their purported benefits but then they inevitably lead to a tyranny of wealth, or they are restricted so heavily that they lack the features that have been claimed to make vote markets attractive in the first place. Using Taylor’s proposal as a test case, we make the more general claim that vote markets cannot avoid the tyranny of wealth objection and bring about their supposed benefits at the same time.Author Profiles
DOI
10.1007/s11158-017-9371-4
My notes
Similar books and articles
Autonomy, Vote Buying, and Constraining Options.James Stacey Taylor - 2017 - Journal of Applied Philosophy 34 (5):711-723.
Vote Buying and Voter Preferences.James Stacey Taylor - 2017 - Social Theory and Practice 43 (1):107-124.
The Manipulation of Voting Systems.David Hartvigsen - 2008 - Journal of Business Ethics 80 (1):13-21.
Markets Without Limits: Moral Virtues and Commercial Interests.Jason Brennan & Peter Jaworski - 2015 - London: Routledge.
Polluting the Polls: When Citizens Should Not Vote.Jason Brennan - 2009 - Australasian Journal of Philosophy 87 (4):535-549.
Is there a Moral Right to Vote?Ludvig Beckman - 2017 - Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 20 (4):885-897.
Unveiling the Vote.Philip Pettit & Geoffrey Brennan - 1990 - British Journal of Political Science 20 (3):311-333.
To Vote or Not to Vote? An Exploration of the Factors Contributing to the Political Efficacy and Intent to Vote of High School Students.Andrew L. Forrest & Allyson J. Weseley - 2007 - Journal of Social Studies Research 31 (1):3-11.
Buying consensus in "free" markets: The end of democracy?Gianfranco Minati - 2004 - World Futures 60 (1 & 2):29 – 37.
Analytics
Added to PP
2017-11-14
Downloads
28 (#418,389)
6 months
5 (#153,513)
2017-11-14
Downloads
28 (#418,389)
6 months
5 (#153,513)
Historical graph of downloads
Author Profiles
Citations of this work
What’s wrong with vote buying.Lachlan Montgomery Umbers - 2020 - Philosophical Studies 177 (2):1-21.
Markets in votes: Alienability, strict secrecy, and political clientelism.Nicolás Maloberti - 2019 - Politics, Philosophy and Economics 18 (2):193-215.
Vote markets, democracy and relational egalitarianism.Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen - forthcoming - Economics and Philosophy.
Impartiality and democracy: an objection to political exchange.Matthew T. Jeffers - forthcoming - Economics and Philosophy:1-24.
References found in this work
Why Some Things Should Not Be for Sale: The Moral Limits of Markets.Debra Satz - 2010 - Oxford University Press.
Markets Without Limits: Moral Virtues and Commercial Interests.Jason Brennan & Peter Jaworski - 2015 - London: Routledge.
Against Vote Markets: A Reply To Freiman.Alfred Archer & Alan T. Wilson - 2014 - Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy (2):1-5.