This addresses democratic theory's account of why democracy is demanded and legitimated: the principle of affected interest holds that those whose interests are affected by a decision presumptively deserve a say in making it, grounding collective self-government and the institutionalized legitimacy of political opposition. It extends this account through a broad conception of politics — recognizing power relations as pervasive across social institutions (family, workplace, associations) rather than confined to formal government — and distinguishes superordinate goods (the substantive purpose of an institution) from subordinate goods (the power relations that structure it), proposing that democratic justice seeks to democratize the latter while minimally disturbing the former. The theory belongs to democratic and political philosophy, situated in debates over the relationship between procedural democracy and substantive justice, and offers criteria (inevitability, degree, self-liquidation, mobility, symmetry, exit costs, insularity) for evaluating when hierarchy within an institution constitutes illegitimate domination.
This addresses democratic theory's account of why democracy is demanded and legitimated: the principle of affected interest holds that those whose interests are affected by a decision presumptively d…