Democracy is not naturally plausible. Why turn such important matters over to masses of people who have no expertise? Many theories of democracy answer by appealing to the intrinsic value of democratic procedure, leaving aside whether it makes good decisions. In Democratic Authority, David Estlund offers a groundbreaking alternative based on the idea that democratic authority and legitimacy must depend partly on democracy's tendency to make good decisions. Just as with verdicts in jury trials, Estlund argues, the authority and legitimacy of a political decision does not depend on the particular decision being good or correct. But the "epistemic value" of the procedure--the degree to which it can generally be accepted as tending toward a good decision--is nevertheless crucial. Yet if good decisions were all that mattered, one might wonder why those who know best shouldn't simply rule. Estlund's theory--which he calls "epistemic proceduralism"--avoids epistocracy, or the rule of those who know. He argues that while some few people probably do know best, this can be used in political justification only if their expertise is acceptable from all reasonable points of view. If we seek the best epistemic arrangement in this respect, it will be recognizably democratic--with laws and policies actually authorized by the people subject to them.

About the Contributor(s): Peter Taylor Forsyth (1848-1921) preached and pastored for twenty five years before becoming principal of Hackney College in London where he taught systematic theology and preaching. Forsyth converted from theological liberalism to classical Christianity in the mid-1880s. The theological transition was, in his own words, from a lover of love to an object of grace. A theologian of the cross, Forsyth is well known for his publications The Work of Christ, Cruciality of the Cross, and The Person and Place of Jesus Christ.

This insightful and beautifully written work explores nonlinear processes of recovery of the loss of Self. The inherent healing power of hard-earned, wholehearted self-acceptance is conceived through the authority of tenderness. The book is the final volume in The Fifth Principle trilogy (the second book being Scum), which chronicled, through the course of one boy’s lifetime, the methods of a mind which is not a mind, in its efforts to prevail under oppressive circumstances. The Authority of Tenderness comes at the end of the journey, is written by the adult self of the child, and uses poetic vignettes, references to foundational psychoanalytic literature and analyses of critical treatment situations to convey the experiences of someone who has been both patient and analyst. The book offers a vivid psychotherapeutic perspective for clinicians, trainees, students and general readers alike.