Berndt Rasmussen, Katharina (mimeo) “Age Discrimination: Is It Special? Is It Wrong?”

Berndt Rasmussen, Katharina (mimeo) “Discrimination, Harm, and Meritocracy”

Berndt Rasmussen, Katharina & Nicolas Olsson Yaouzis (mimeo) “Social Norms, Implicit Bias, and Discrimination“

Berndt Rasmussen, Katharina (mimeo) “The Weighted Majority Rule with Less than Fully Competent Voters”

Berndt Rasmussen, Katharina (mimeo) “The Rae Taylor Theorem and the Weighted Majority Rule”

 

Project: Bentham and Representative Democracy

Berndt Rasmussen, Katharina (mimeo) “Part 1: Benthams argument for representative democracy”

Abstract: It is commonly claimed that Jeremy Bentham underwent a “transition to political radicalism” during the last couple of decades of his life. The claim refers to his conversion to defending representative democracy as the only proper form of government, a defence ultimately resting on his theory of the two “sovereign masters” pain and pleasure. In this paper I reconstruct Bentham’s argument for representative democracy according to this foundation, mainly from writings dating after 1809.

Berndt Rasmussen, Katharina (mimeo) “Part 2: A Benthamite model of democracy and its problems”

Abstract: In this paper, I discuss a Benthamite argument for representative democracy (which closely resembles an argument by James Mill). I derive a simplified model of representative democracy from the argument and examine its merits and problems.

Berndt Rasmussen, Katharina (mimeo) “Part 3: Reclaiming Bentham’s deputy”

Abstract: In this paper, I deal with an interpretation of Bentham’s notion of a deputy, due to Frederick Rosen, which may constitute an objection to my interpretation of Bentham and the derived Benthamite model.

Berndt Rasmussen, Katharina (mimeo) “Part 4: An alternative Benthamite argument”

Abstract: In this paper, I consider a Benthamite argument for democracy in terms of equal shares of voting power. I reconstruct this argument and adapt it to the idea of direct democracy. I also provide an overview of various democratic decision methods and discuss three interpretations of ‘voting power’: actual, probable, and potential voting power. I argue that one of them – potential voting power according to the Penrose index – fits best with the Benthamite argument. There is also a discussion about the notion of equality, which is central for much of democratic theory but can be spelled out in a number of ways.