general will do find a place in vindicating a decision procedure to
establish a legally binding solution.
Procedural conceptions of democracy, which rest the case for
democracy on the fairness of the democratic way of reaching
decisions, in particular, on citizens’ rightful claims to equal
respect as autonomous agents, have been criticized by theorists of
deliberative democracy for failing to acknowledge the reach of
democratic principles into questions of substance which a dem-
ocracy deliberates.^41 Procedural considerations come into their
own where deliberative democracy overreaches itself, claiming
philosophical resources which turn out to be impotent in the reso-
lution of conspicuous and divisive disagreement. One cannot dis-
bar citizens from applying idiosyncratic or narrowly religious
principles in matters of political controversy. One cannot get all
parties to a democratic decision to respect the moral content of a
democratic decision. But one may be able to convince some of them
that the decision should be respected on procedural grounds – that
it is the only fair way to settle the issue.
For the rest, be on your guard. Ominously, your salvation is their
business.
DEMOCRACY