Democracy's Wisdom: An Aristotelian Middle Way for Collective Judgment

2013 ◽  
Vol 107 (1) ◽  
pp. 104-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
JOSIAH OBER

A satisfactory model of decision-making in an epistemic democracy must respect democratic values, while advancing citizens’ interests, by taking account of relevant knowledge about the world. Analysis of passages in Aristotle and legislative process in classical Athens points to a “middle way” between independent-guess aggregation and deliberation: an epistemic approach to decision-making that offers a satisfactory model of collective judgment that is both time-sensitive and capable of setting agendas endogenously. By aggregating expertise across multiple domains, Relevant Expertise Aggregation (REA) enables a body of minimally competent voters to make superior choices among multiple options, on matters of common interest. REA differs from a standard Condorcet jury in combining deliberation with voting based on judgments about the reputations and arguments of domain-experts.

1978 ◽  
Vol 17 (01) ◽  
pp. 28-35
Author(s):  
F. T. De Dombal

This paper discusses medical diagnosis from the clinicians point of view. The aim of the paper is to identify areas where computer science and information science may be of help to the practising clinician. Collection of data, analysis, and decision-making are discussed in turn. Finally, some specific recommendations are made for further joint research on the basis of experience around the world to date.


Author(s):  
Claire Taylor

The chapter examines a major corruption scandal that involved the Athenian orator Demosthenes and an official of Alexander the Great. This episode reveals how tensions between individual and collective decision-making practices shaped Athenian understandings of corruption and anticorruption. The various and multiple anticorruption measures of Athens sought to bring ‘hidden’ knowledge into the open and thereby remove information from the realm of individual judgment, placing it instead into the realm of collective judgment. The Athenian experience therefore suggests that participatory democracy, and a civic culture that fosters political equality rather than reliance on individual expertise, provides a key bulwark against corruption.


Author(s):  
Nguyen Le Thy Thuong ◽  
Nguyen Thi Oanh

The Indo-Pacific region is an area adjacent to some oceans and the gateway that connects the great power and small countries to the world; this region is always considered by Vietnam as a key strategic geographic area, having direct impacts on national security, position and its role in this region. While big powers have different perceptions to the Indo-Pacific region, as a country occupying an important geographic position in the Pacific region, Vietnam shares a common vision of an open and rule-based area, and a common interest in maintaining peace, stability and prosperity as well as building a common space for coexistence and development with the belief that the Indo-Asian-Pacific is large enough for every nation to grow and prosper. This article finds out that recent changes in the Indo-Pacific region in geopolitics, economics, security and national defence have made many countries, including Vietnam, to redefine their global and regional policies to refresh their strategic perceptions. Vietnam has its own perception, position, approach and national orientations, which is shaping its state behaviour and perspectives in this geopolitical vibrant Indo-Pacific region. Besides, this article uses the SWOT analysis model to determine the challenges, strengths and weaknesses of Vietnam in the Indo-Pacific region. Moreover, while the future of the Indo-Pacific in a post-COVID-19 pandemic world remains filled with uncertainty and economic challenges, the crisis also presents an opportunity for Vietnam to re-evaluate its position. Today, Vietnam always maintains its foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralism and diversification of international relations, which attaches great importance to enhancing multi-faceted cooperation with countries in the Indo-Pacific region. Thus, with its own perception and geostrategic advantage, Vietnam—a developing country in the region and in the world with relatively stable economic growth, pursuing rules and order will be a positive factor for a stable, peaceful and prosperous development in the region.


Prospects ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 181-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Howard P. Segal

“Technology Spurs Decentralization Across the Country.” So reads a 1984 New York Times article on real-estate trends in the United States. The contemporary revolution in information processing and transmittal now allows large businesses and other institutions to disperse their offices and other facilities across the country, even across the world, without loss of the policy- and decision-making abilities formerly requiring regular physical proximity. Thanks to computers, word processors, and the like, decentralization has become a fact of life in America and other highly technological societies.


2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian Follert ◽  
Lukas Richau ◽  
Eike Emrich ◽  
Christian Pierdzioch

AbstractVarious scandals have shaken public confidence in football's global governing body, Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). It is evident that decision-making within such a collective provides incentives for corruption. We apply the Buchanan-Tullock model that is known from Public Choice theory to study collective decision-making within FIFA. On the basis of this theoretical model, we develop specific proposals that can contribute to combating corruption. Three core aspects are discussed: the selection of the World Cup host, transparency in the allocation of budgets, and clear guidelines for FIFA officials and bodies with regard to their rights and accountability. Our insights can contribute to a better understanding of collective decision making in heterogenous groups.


Author(s):  
Siamak Farshidi ◽  
Slinger Jansen ◽  
Sven Fortuin

AbstractModel-driven development platforms shift the focus of software development activity from coding to modeling for enterprises. A significant number of such platforms are available in the market. Selecting the best fitting platform is challenging, as domain experts are not typically model-driven deployment platform experts and have limited time for acquiring the needed knowledge. We model the problem as a multi-criteria decision-making problem and capture knowledge systematically about the features and qualities of 30 alternative platforms. Through four industry case studies, we confirm that the model supports decision-makers with the selection problem by reducing the time and cost of the decision-making process and by providing a richer list of options than the enterprises considered initially. We show that having decision knowledge readily available supports decision-makers in making more rational, efficient, and effective decisions. The study’s theoretical contribution is the observation that the decision framework provides a reliable approach for creating decision models in software production.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (9) ◽  
pp. 2691
Author(s):  
Sławomira Hajduk ◽  
Dorota Jelonek

This paper presents the use of multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) for the evaluation of smart cities. During the development of the method, the importance of the decision-making approach in the linear ordering of cities was presented. The method of using the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) was proposed for the preparation of ranking. The method was verified by the application in the measurement of energy performance in smart cities. The authors conducted a literature review of research papers related to urban energy and MCDM published in the period from 2010 to 2020. The paper uses data from the World Council on City Data (WCCD). The research conducted allowed for the identification of the most popular MCDM techniques in the field of urban energy such as TOPSIS, AHP and DEA. The TOPSIS technique was used to organize and group the analyzed cities. Porto took the top position, whereas Buenos Aries was the last.


2021 ◽  
pp. 000203972199039
Author(s):  
Thomas Kwasi Tieku

Conventional narratives suggest that the African Union Commission (AUC), like most international public administrations and international organisations (IOs) housed in the less materially endowed regions of the world, exercises no meaningful agency on international issues. This article however seeks to show that the AUC is neither a glorified messenger and docile follower of orders of governments nor is it an empty vessel that timidly goes where the wind of governments blows. Rather, the AUC exercises significant agency on issues that affect not just the African continent but also the broader international system. The AUC is often at the heart of international agenda-setting, norm development, decision-making, rule creation, policy development, and it sometimes offer strategic leadership. The article demonstrates six pathways through which the AUC acts like a tail wagging a dog.


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