Hyper-Partisanship

Abstract

Hyper-partisanship is a form of competitive utility-maximizing. Good or ethical partisanship is found in the mean between non-partisan detachment and hyper-partisan devotion to a cause, and finding this mean requires practical wisdom on the part of citizens and rulers. Excessive partisanship can undermine democracy by weakening and ultimately displacing the deliberation necessary to compromise and find common goods in political institutions like legislatures. Recognizing that good institutions are not enough to guarantee the proper functioning of a democracy, this chapter considers the possibility of educating politicians. It asks a question political theorists have grappled with since Aristotle’s time: Can practical wisdom be taught?