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David Miller (political philosopher)

Thursday 5th of March 2026

Democracy There are two circumstances in particular in which a minority may feel that majority rule violates  political equality. One …[is]… the case where those who vote with the majority are affected much less by the decision, or have fewer interests at stake, than those who form the minority. Although heads have been counted equally, it appears as though preferences or interests have not. The second circumstance is where one group finds itself in a minority repeatedly when votes are taken. … In other words, we have the problem of the intense  minority and the problem of the persistent  minority. David Miller, Political Philisophy © 2018 Kwiple.com
Freedom But unlike external freedom, internal freedom cannot be guaranteed. Some people are independent-minded by nature; others are born conformists. All that politics can do is to provide more favourable conditions for those who want to choose their own path in life to do so. David Miller, Political Philisophy © 2018 Kwiple.com
Government The commonly held view that the more governments do, the less freedom people have is … mistaken. Governments do sometimes restrict freedom, sometimes justifiably, sometimes not … But at other times government action can increase freedom by giving people options that they would not have otherwise because of cost. We need to look at particular policies, to see whether in opening options up they are closing down other ones that are more important. David Miller, Political Philisophy © 2018 Kwiple.com
Immigration Justice permits us to do less for would-be immigrants than we are required to do for citizens. But less is not nothing. David Miller, Strangers in Our Midst © 2018 Kwiple.com
Nation-states It would not be going too far to say that today we are creatures of the state. David Miller, Political Philisophy © 2018 Kwiple.com
Political philosophy Many current observers of the inter- national scene foresee a kind of market triumphalism, in which economic forces prevent any nation-state from making real political choices. Self-determination becomes meaningless if the only option is to adopt policies that ensure maximum economic competitiveness. … if there really are no political choices for us to make, then political philosophy, whether national or international in focus, becomes useless, nothing more than fiddling while Rome burns. David Miller, Political Philisophy © 2018 Kwiple.com
 
Political philosophy We can define political philosophy as an investigation into the nature, causes, and effects of good and bad government. … three ideas stand at the very heart of the subject. The first is that good and bad government profoundly affect the quality of human lives. … The second is that the form  our government takes is not predetermined: we have a choice to make. … The third idea is that we can know what distinguishes good from bad: we can trace the effects of different forms of government and we can learn what qualities go to make up the best form of government. In other words, there is such a thing as political knowledge. David Miller, Political Philisophy © 2018 Kwiple.com