Review of Dahl’s “On Political Equality”, preamble

Robert Dahl is one of the best scholars of democracy that mainstream America has to offer – he is substantive (i.e., not given to excessive theorizing and pretense), he is not a servant of the powerful (i.e., he is willing to acknowledge many of the problems of the established system), and he is more empirical than dogmatic. That said,Dahl is a full member of the establishment – meaning that there are some assumptions he must accept and some lines of thought he cannot pursue.

His booklet “On Political Equality” is a typical result of these circumstances: satisfying in parts, frustrating in others. I intend in upcoming posts to address the main points made by Dahl in “On Political Equality” and discuss strengths and weaknesses of his arguments.

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