Legitimate Political Authority and Expertise

Abstract

Abstract Can legitimate political authority be based on expertise? Stephen Darwall has argued that it cannot. According to Darwall, legitimate political authority requires a mode of justification involving mutual accountability, which is exemplified by public reason. Darwall has objected to the influential Razian account of legitimate political authority that it conflates expertise and legitimate political authority. In a first move, this chapter defends Raz’s account against Darwall’s objection and argues that expertise can be a ground of legitimate political authority. It also argues that mutual accountability remains important for political legitimacy, however. That is because political decisions often concern complex issues on which sufficiently robust expertise is not available.