Dartmouth Events

“Democracy: Are We Still For it?” A Discusssion with Jason Brennan, Georgetown

Political Economy Project Event with Georgetown Professor Jason Brennan, author of "Against Democracy."

Tuesday, October 24, 2017
5:00pm – 6:30pm
Room 003, Rockefeller Center
Intended Audience(s): Public
Categories: Lectures & Seminars

Democracy is the rule of the people, but what if the people have no clue what they’re doing? Ample empirical research shows that most citizens are not merely ignorant about basic politics, but also deeply irrational, tribalistic, and biased. Heuristics and shortcuts don’t seem to work. Democracy may be the best system we’ve tried so far, but it has its flaws, and it’s time to consider superior ways to realize the rule of the people.

Jason Brennan is the Robert J. and Elizabeth Flanagan Family Chair of Strategy, Economics, Ethics, and Public Policy at the McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University. He specializes in politics, philosophy, and economics. He is the author of seven books, with two more forthcoming in 2018, including When All Else Fails (Princeton, 2018), In Defense of Openness (Oxford, 2018) with Bas van der Vossen, Against Democracy (Princeton, 2016), and Markets without Limits (Routledge, 2016). He is currently writing Cracks in the Ivory Tower: The Bad Business Ethics of Higher Ed for Oxford University Press.

For more information, contact:
Joanne Needham
603-646-2207

Events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.