Democracy and Morality

Patti Lenard is Professor of Applied Ethics in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Ottawa. She is the author of Trust, Democracy and Multicultural Challenges (Penn State, 2012), How should democracies fight terrorism? (Polity Press, 2020), Debating Multiculturalism (with Peter Balint, Oxford University Press, 2022), and Ordinary Citizens, Extraordinary Actions, a case-study of St. Joseph’s Parish’s refugee outreach committee (with With Stéfanie Morris, Karina Juma, and Meredith Teretta, University of Ottawa Press, 2022), and Democracy and Exclusion (Oxford University Press, forthcoming). In Ottawa, she runs a small organization called Rainbow Haven, which sponsors, settles and advocates for LGBTQ refugees: https://www.facebook.com/rainbowhavenottawa/.Margaret Moore is Professor in the Political Studies department at Queen’s University Canada. She is the author of four books, on justice, nationalism and territory. Her 2015 book A Political Theory of Territory was winner of the Canadian Philosophical Association Biennial Best Book Prize in 2017 and has been the subject of journal symposia and author-meets-critics roundtables and conferences. It offers a philosophical analysis of territory, which has been largely under-theorized in political theory, which has focused on the relationship between the state and citizens. She has also written numerous chapters and articles, in such journals as Journal of Political Philosophy,American Journal of Political Science,Political Theory, Ethics & International Affairs, Philosophical Studies and Political Studies and edited or co-edited three other books, one of which is a volume in comparative ethics (The Making and Unmaking of Boundaries).

• AcknowledgmentsIntroductionPatti Lenard And Margaret MooreBuddhismDemocracy And Morality In BuddhismMatthew J. MooreChristianityChristianity And DemocracyJonathan ChaplinClassical LiberalismClassical Liberalism, Democracy, And MoralityStephen MacedoConfucianismDemocracy And Morality: A Confucian PerspectiveSungmoon KimEgalitarian LiberalismDemocracy And Morality: A Liberal-Egalitarian PerspectiveDavid MillerFeminismFeminism, Democracy, And MoralityNoelle McAfeeHinduismDemocracy In The Hindu TraditionRajeev BhargavaIslamThe Question of Democracy In Modern Islamic ThoughtAndrew F. MarchJudaismDemocracy And Morality: Judaic PerspectivesNoam ZoharNatural LawShould Political Societies Be Democratic? An Approach From The Natural Law TraditionAna Marta GonzalezComparing The TraditionsPatti Lenard And Margaret MooreSelected Annotated BibliographyContributorsIndex

The ten invited essays in this collection discuss the relationship of democracy to six religious and four secular ideologies (though some might contest the categorization of "natural law" in the latter). They uniformly reject a popular, Whiggish, retconned interpretation that suggests such traditions always supported democracy in their essence. Instead, they generally insist that premodern traditions rejected democracy or only considered it as occasionally acceptable on instrumental grounds, with caveats and reservations. This will rankle a few political theorists in principle, for the dependence of a functioning democracy on the rule of law, constitutional constraints, and other safeguards is widely acknowledged. What makes this collection valuable is its careful analysis of how views toward democracy have been debated and have changed over time in each tradition; each may provide valuable lessons and reflections on both the value and dangers of democracy. Even where readers may disagree with a tradition's views on these matters, they might glean valuable insight into how others may receive, understand, or critique democracy. Recommended. General readers and undergraduates.