Independent Institutions and the Normative Concept of Pluralistic Liberal Democracy : A Brief

The rise of independent institutions, such as central banks, has generated an ongoing debate on their democratic credentials and legitimacy. The normative appraisal depends on the conception of democracy adopted. While critics frequently espouse a majoritarian conception, this paper argues that it is too thin of a model of democracy. Alternatively, it argues that a pluralistic conception of liberal democracy is thicker, and truer to the fundamental values of liberty and political equality. The concise defence of this pluralistic conception paves the normative foundations of independent institutions, as permissible non-majoritarian devices and alternative channels for indirect democracy, that can be an appropriate part of liberal democracy well understood