Just Democracy. The Rawls-Machiavelli Programme, by Philippe Van Parijs

"We don't just need democracy. We need just democracy." A launch event for this new book published by the European Consortium for Political research is being jointly organized by the Belgian Ambassor in London and University College London.

Just Democracy. The Rawls-Machiavelli Programme

by Philippe Van Parijs
Colchester: ECPR Press, 2011

We don't just need democracy. We need just democracy. Among the countless ways in which democracies could be organized, we must not try to adopt the most democratic ones. We must go instead for those that offer the best prospect of making our societies and our world more just. This is the core of the Rawls-Machiavelli programme forcefully advocated and vividly illustrated in this book, a powerful alliance between Rawlsian thinking about social justice and Machiavellian thinking about political institutions.
For example, how could our political institutions be reformed in order to better serve intergenerational justice? And how should political institutions be shaped to as to best fit the specific circumstances of deeply divided societies, or of multilingual countries, or of the European Union? This is the sort of question that is being addressed in this unusual combination of rigorous philosophical arguments, detailed historical accounts and bold political proposals.

Launch event

A launch event is taking place on Monday the 6th of June at the Residence of the Belgian Ambassador in London. It is co-organised by the Belgian Embassy in London and the European Institute of University College London.
The author will debate with three UCL academics: Professors Veronique Munoz-Darde (Philosophy), Albert Weale (Political Science/School of Public Policy) and Richard Bellamy (Political Science/School of Public Policy and Director of the European Institute).