Amartya Sen's Views on Democracy as Public Reasoning: An Analysis

This paper examines Amartya Sen's views on democracy by focusing on his conceptualization of democracy as ‘public reasoning’. It seeks to explore the relevance of Sen’s ideas on the practice of democracy for an increasingly majoritarian India. Public discussion, which Sen considers to be at the heart of democracy, is instrumental in dynamically shaping societal values and priorities (including values of toleration) through the exercise of reasoning. The demands of public reason can justify only civic values and not narrowly defined ethnic values. Recognizing the multiplicity of our identities and using public discussion to reinforce non-sectarian identities are important ways to stem the tide of communal politics. Finally, this paper discusses the problems in Sen’s belief in the primacy of reason to build a liberal democratic polity.