Conflicting Principles : An examination of Eva Erman’s Function-sensitive approach to the Democratic Boundary problem

The Boundary Problem of democratic inclusion regards who ought to be included in democratic decision making and on what grounds.Eva Erman's function-sensitive approach to the Boundary problem offers a shift in the prevalent discourse, trying to reconcile and integrate the normative claims of the prevailing All Affected Interests Principle (AAIP) and All Subjected Principle (ASP) -attempting to bridge a divide that has dominated political theory and philosophy.In this paper I argue that the two core principles of her framework face internal tensions and interpretive ambiguities.Specifically, Erman's Principle of Public Legitimacy (P2) can be seen as too intrusive, undermining political autonomy, or too weak, leaving affected groups without meaningful influence on outcomes.While these limitations do not invalidate Ermna's theory, they do underscore the need for further refinement, either by giving one principle priority or by incorporating additional democratic values.