Annabelle Lever
- Centre de recherches politiques de Sciences Po (Sciences Po, CNRS) (CEVIPOF)
Présentation
Current Research categories/Topics (sections on motivation, objectives, outcomes/activities) In fact, part of the point of REDEM, the European Research project which I lead (2019 -22) was, precisely, to explore that complexity in light of mounting alienation from electoral politics throughout the EU and differentially rates of electoral abstention which mean that the young vote at rates much lower than the old, and that poorer, less-educated voters vote much less frequently than their wealthier and educationally advantaged peers. If voting can be ethically demanding and morally painful for anyone, it is often voters on the left, rather than the political right who are asked to ‘hold their noses’ and to vote for a candidate that they really don’t like in order to avoid the accession to office of someone much worse. If so, the unequal distribution of the moral burdens of voting may itself be a factor in explaining differential patterns of abstention; and the frequency of those demands may play a role in permanently alienating people from electoral politics. Because voters are moral agents, not just the point at which different social forces intersect, attention to the ethics of voting can illuminate voters behaviour and highlight the interplay between social inequalities, institutional constraints (including constitutional ones) and the political outcomes. Link to Redem My research in this area now concerns the relationship between the right to vote and the right to stand as a representative of others, and the way that this underappreciated, but important, democratic right ought to shape the ways we think about the rights of citizens as voters, as well as representatives. In due course, I hope to explore its implications for the relationship between voters, candidates and parties, and for the way we think about the funding of electoral politics in democracies. Links… I have just written (and published) a bunch of papers on democracy, sortition and elections, focusing particularly on the conceptions of equality and accountability at stake in the ways we understand democracy. links As a result of this work, I am now particularly interested in thinking about what democratic citizens can be accountable to each other for doing, or failing to do as voters, as jurors, as members of different deliberative and advisory bodies and as elected representatives. Link Finally, I am trying to get a better sense of the demands of formal equality in legal and political contexts, given that the demands of procedural equality have to be sensitive to the substantive differences between democratic and undemocratic government – though it will probably take me quite a while to make progress in this area! My hope is that the collections of papers and talks that make up my research in this area will eventually become part of a book that links my early work on the ethics of voting – largely motivated by questions about the value of privacy for democratic government – to a body of research focused on the ethics and politics of democratic elections, which has occupied me in the past few years. Satire and Democracy
My research here was motivated by the murder of Samuel Paty – a French teacher who had shown some satirical cartoons of Mohamed to students in his civics class in ‘collège’. I was struck by the fact that immediate debate after his murder – as after the murders of the cartoonists associated with the satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, was dominated by talk about freedom, equality, toleration and the like, but had nothing specifically to say about the particular type of expression at issue – namely, satirical cartoons. And so, over the past few years, I have developed a research project, along with a relatively informal network of other scholars, to try to understand the challenges that satire poses for democracies – particularly in the age of the internet. So far, my contribution to that project has largely consisted in grant-writing and I still have to write up my ideas in other forms. However, in October 2022 we held a conference on satire and democracy link which, I hope, will be the first of several, and the grant which made that possible has also funded some interdisciplinary research that will be appearing on the site shortly.
My own interest is in the duties of politicians – as distinct from teachers, cartoonists, parents, readers – to foster dialogue and the search for mutual understanding, despite bitter substantive disagreement about the value of satire and the forms that it can take in a democracy. In France, we hear a great deal about the duties of everyone except politicians in this matter. Yet as conflict over satire has been a feature of European politics since the start of the ‘Rushdie Affair’ in 1988, we might expect our politicians to expect continuing conflict in this area, and to consider what forms of state-supported representation, dialogue and public deliberation might be used to pre-empt, as well as to respond to it. As in economic and other matters, basic rights and duties set a framework withing which collective solutions to common problems must be explored. I am therefore doubtful that getting the right conception of ‘laicité’, or some other value, will be sufficient to determine how democracies should handle satire – and am therefore interested in exploring the way the moral and political shape the different ways we can think about, and regulate satirical expression democratically. Methodology, Democracy and Equality
I have long been interested in the methodological implications of valuing democracy, and the different ways in which we can organise societies democratically. Link I have now taught an MA seminar on methodology and epistemology for many years, varying the content from year to year – although core elements of the course always include weeks on thought experiments and what social scientists might call ‘comparative’ methods; on internal critique and interpretive reconstruction, as well as on the challenges of thinking about race and gender and their relationship to each other. Issues of methodology affect the ways I think about constitutionalism and its relationship to democracy, as well as topics such as racial profiling, or freedom of religion. Link However, methodological challenges are now figuring in my work in a rather different way – through my collaboration with Lou Safra, a cognitive scientist who is a member of Cevipof, the research lab at Sciences Po, of which I am a member. Our work together started during the pandemic, based on our exasperation with ways of thinking about the Covid as an exogenous threat to our societies whose ravages had nothing to do with the types of society we are, the ways in which we typically organise work and travel, or access to leisure, food, healthcare and the like. Link Since then, however, we have started to explore other questions related to citizens’ relationship to each other - in particular, to their ability to see and treat each other as equals. One of the frustrating things about being a political theorist is that it is often hard to find data on things that would illuminate the issues you are interested in because social scientists and historians are often indifferent to the particular issue that, from a philosophical perspective, it would be especially desirable to know more about. One area where this lack is particularly painful for me – and where I am still seeking research partners – is on the experience of women in Switzerland who lived through the change from a constitutional, but undemocratic, government to one that was constitutional and democratic. What getting the vote meant to them then, and what in retrospect, they think its significance is strikes me as something that might really help philosophers and social scientists to think about the value of democratic voting rights – and better to understand the relationship between constitutional government and the protection of civil rights and democratic rights to vote and be a politician. However, there is much that we don’t understand about the way people think about each other as political agents and political subjects. And so what we are exploring now, is the scope for online experiments to illuminate people’s conceptions of their responsibilities to each other and of their political capacities and skills. Link Empirical information – let alone experimental information – is unlikely to resolve any matter of philosophical interest. But it can help us to see whether the sorts of psychological assumptions, often implicit and unacknowledged in political and philosophical research, are likely to be well-founded, and to tease out the different factors that may be affecting people’s behaviour, self-conceptions, relationships. In short, experimental research, along with other social scientific research, can prod us to refine our concepts, explore different ways of understanding basic values and can suggest new lines of social-theoretic explanation. In turn, philosophy can motivate and, hopefully, contribute to more experimental forms of political analysis. Hopefully, putting the pieces together will provide substantively interesting, as well as methodologically fruitful ways of exploring the interplay between the personal and the political characteristic of democratic politics.
Compétences
Publications
Publications
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Introduction: democratic ethics and votingCritical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, 2025, 28 (5), pp.729-736. ⟨10.1080/13698230.2025.2524977⟩ |
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A new way to serve democracy: recruiting poll workers and electoral participationCritical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, 2025, 28, pp.866 - 885. ⟨10.1080/13698230.2025.2524984⟩ |
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Lottocracy: For and AgainstEuropean Journal of Political Theory, 2025, ⟨10.1177/14748851251380538⟩ |
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Democracy and the Ethics of VotingCritical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, 2024, pp.1-17. ⟨10.1080/13698230.2024.2426113⟩ |
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Random Selection, Democracy and Citizen ExpertiseRes Publica, 2023, ⟨10.1007/s11158-023-09589-0⟩ |
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Democracy: Should We Replace Elections With Random Selection?Danish Yearbook of Philosophy, 2023, 56 (2), ⟨10.1163/24689300-bja10042⟩ |
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The Circumstances of Democracy": Why Random Selection Is Not Better Than Elections if We Value Political Equality and PrivacyWashington University Review of Philosophy, 2023, 2023 (3), pp.100-115 |
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Egalité démocratique et tirage au sortRaison-publique.fr : arts, politique, société, 2023, 26, pp.63-79 |
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Review of Yves Sintomer's The Government of Chance: Sortition from Athens to the PresentEuropean Political Science, 2023, online first |
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Democracy and TruthRaisons politiques, 2021, Pragmatism and Epistemic Democracy, 81, pp.29 - 38. ⟨10.3917/rai.081.0029⟩ |
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Plaidoyer pour la déconstructionTelos [France], 2021 |
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Intro Special Issue: Pragmatism and Epistemic DemocracyRaison-publique.fr : arts, politique, société, 2021 |
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Pragmatism and Epistemic Democracy IntroductionRaisons politiques, 2021, Pragmatism and Epistemic Democracy, 81, pp.5 - 10. ⟨10.3917/rai.081.0005⟩ |
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Rethinking the Epidemiogenic Power of Modern Western SocietiesFrontiers in Sociology, 2021, 6, pp.638777. ⟨10.3389/fsoc.2021.638777⟩ |
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A Sense of Proportion: some thoughts on equality, security and justiceRes Publica, 2020, 26 (3), pp.357-371. ⟨10.1007/s11158-020-09450-8⟩ |
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Towards a Democracy-Centred EthicsCritical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, 2019, 22 (1), pp.18-33. ⟨10.1080/13698230.2017.1403120⟩ |
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le mot 'race': un débat françaisAnalyse Opinion Critique, 2019 |
Privacy and Photography: Interview with Camille Simon, photo ed; L'ObsSource, 2018 |
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Privacy and PhotographySource, 2018, 96, pp.14 |
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Review of 'Law and the philosophy of privacy' By Janice RichardsonContemporary Political Theory, 2017, 16 (3), pp.402-404. ⟨10.1057/s41296-016-0019-5⟩ |
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Democracy, Epistemology and the Problem of All-White JuriesJournal of Applied Philosophy, 2017, 34 (4), pp.541-556. ⟨10.1111/japp.12203⟩ |
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Democratic Epistemology and Democratic Morality: The Appeal and Challenges of Peircean PragmatismCritical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, 2017, 22 (4), pp.432-453. ⟨10.1080/13698230.2017.1357411⟩ |
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Democratic Equality and Freedom of Religion: Beyond Coercion v. PersuasionFilosofia e questioni pubbliche, 2016, 6 (1) |
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Review of 'White Privilege and Black Rights: The injustice of U.S,. Police Racial Profiling and Homicide' By Naomi ZackEthics, 2016 |
Review of 'Luck Egalitarianism' By Kasper Lippert-RasmussenNotre Dame Philosophical Reviews, 2016 |
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Privacy and DemocracyLaw, Culture and the Humanities, 2015, 11 (2), pp.164 - 183 |
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Democracy and epistemology: a reply to TalisseCritical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, 2015, 18 (1), pp.74-81. ⟨10.1080/13698230.2014.995502⟩ |
When the Philosopher Enters the RoomJournal of Philosophy and Public Issues, 2014, 4 (3), pp.7 - 19 |
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Taxation, Conscientious Objection and Religious FreedomEthical Perspectives, 2013, 20 (1), pp.144 - 153 |
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Privacy, Private Property and Collective PropertyGood Society, 2012, 21 (1), pp.47 - 60. ⟨10.1353/gso.2012.0009⟩ |
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Democracy and TruthRaisons politiques, 2011 |
Treating People as EqualsJournal of Ethics, 2011, 15 (1-2), pp.61 - 78. ⟨10.1007/s10892-010-9094-7⟩ |
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Compulsory VotingBritish Journal of Political Science, 2010, 40 (4), pp.897 - 915 |
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Democracy and VotingBritish Journal of Political Science, 2010, 40 (4), pp.925 - 929. ⟨10.1017/S0007123410000177⟩ |
Democracy and Judicial ReviewPerspectives on Politics, 2009, 7 (4), pp.805 - 822 |
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Democratic Choice, Legitimacy and the Case Against Compulsory VotingPublic Policy Research, 2009 |
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Is Compulsory Voting Justified?Public reason, 2009, 1 (1), pp.57 - 74 |
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Liberalism, Democracy and the Ethics of VotingPolitics, 2009, 29 (3), pp.223 - 227. ⟨10.1111/j.1467-9256.2009.01359.x⟩ |
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Democracy and Judicial Review: Are They Really Incompatible?Perspectives on Politics, 2009, 7 (4), pp.805 - 822. ⟨10.1017/S1537592709991812⟩ |
‘A Liberal Defence of Compulsory Voting’: Some Reasons for ScepticismPolitics, 2008, 28 (1), pp.61 - 64 |
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Mrs. Aremac and the Camera: A Response to RybergRes publica (Liverpool), 2008, 14 (1), pp.35 - 42 |
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Mill and the Secret Ballot: Beyond Coercion and CorruptionUtilitas, 2007, 19 (3), pp.354 - 378. ⟨10.1017/S0953820807002634⟩ |
Is Judicial Review Undemocratic?Public Law, 2007, pp.280 - 298 |
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What’s Wrong with Racial profiling? Another Look at the ProblemCriminal Justice Ethics, 2007, 26 (1), pp.20 - 28 |
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Privacy Rights and Democracy: A Contradiction in Terms?Contemporary Political Theory, 2006, 5 (2), pp.142 - 162. ⟨10.1057/palgrave.cpt.9300187⟩ |
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Why Racial Profiling is Hard to JustifyPhilosophy and Public Affairs, 2005, 33 (1), pp.94 - 110 |
Feminism, Democracy and the Right to PrivacyMinerva, 2004, 9, pp.1 - 31 |
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Ethics and the patenting of human genesJournal of Philosophy, Science and Law, 2001, 1 (1), pp.31 - 46 |
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Must Privacy and Sexual Equality Conflict?Social Research: An International Quarterly, 2000, 67 (4), pp.1137 - 1171 |
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The Politics of ParadoxConstellations, 2000, 7 (2), pp.242 - 254. ⟨10.1111/1467-8675.00184⟩ |
Reconstructing Democracy in Times of Crisis: A Voter-Centred PerspectivePragma Publishing, 2023, RECONSTRUCTING DEMOCRACY IN TIMES OF CRISIS A Voter-Centred Perspective, Annabelle Lever, ⟨10.62483/73867875⟩ |
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Ideas That Matter: Justice, Democracy, RightsDebra Satz; Annabelle Lever. Oxford University Press, pp.280, 2019, 9780190904951 |
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Routledge Handbook of Ethics and Public PolicyAnnabelle Lever; Andrei Poama. Routledge, pp.560, 2018, Routledge handbooks in applied ethics, 9781138201279 |
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A Democratic conception of privacyAuthor House, 2014, 9781491878385 |
On PrivacyRoutledge, 2012, Thinking in Action, 9780415395700 |
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Justice In Global Intellectual Property GovernanceJustice in Global Economic Governance, pp.215-224, In press, http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/jj.27775767. ⟨10.3366/jj.27775767.25⟩ |
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How Political Institutions Affect the Conflicts of Duty and Prudence Facing Democratic Votersannabelle lever. Reconstructing Democracy in Times of Crisis: A Voter-Centred Perspective, Pragma Publishing, pp.217-244, 2023, Reconstructing Democracy in Times of Crisis: A Voter-Centred Perspective, ⟨10.62483/87045204⟩ |
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Opportunities for Citizens to Participate in Organising Elections in EuropeReconstructing Democracy in Times of Crisis: A Voter-Centred Perspective, Pragma Publishing, pp.267-284, 2023, ⟨10.62483/97304320⟩ |
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Voter-Centred Perspectives on Electoral DemocracyAnnabelle Lever. Reconstructing Democracy in Times of Crisis: A Voter-Centred Perspective, Pragma Publishing, pp.151-186, 2023, Reconstructing Democracy in Times of Crisis: A Voter-Centred Perspective, ⟨10.62483/19430535⟩ |
La démocratie et la sélection: tirage au sort, élections et l'égalitéLa Démocratie, une idée force, Mare et Martin, 2023, Démocratie, une idée force |
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Democratic Political Institutions in EuropeAnnabelle Lever. Reconstructing Democracy in Times of Crisis: A Voter-Centred Perspective, Pragma Communication, pp.7-52, 2023, ⟨10.62483/47046093⟩ |
Justice in Global Intellectual PropertyJustice in Economic Governance, In press |
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Equality and ConstitutionalityRichard Bellamy; Jeff King. Cambridge Handbook of Constitutional Theory, Cambridge University Press, 2022, 9781108491310 |
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Towards a Political Philosophy of Human RightsDebra Satz; Annabelle Lever. Ideas that Matter, Oxford University Press, 2019, 9780190904951 |
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Should Voting Be Compulsory? Democracy and the Ethics of VotingAnnabelle Lever; Andrei Poama. The Routledge Handbook of Ethics and Public Policy, Routledge, pp.242 - 254, 2018, 9781138201279 |
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La vie privéeJulien Deonna; Emma Tieffenbach. Petit traité des valeurs, Éditions d'Ithaque, 2018, 9782916120911 |
Racial ProfilingBob Fischer. Ethics, Left and Right: The Moral Issues That Divide Us, Oxford University Press, 2018 |
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Must We Vote for the Common Good?Emily Crookston; David Killoren; Jonathan Trerise. Political Ethics, Routledge, pp.145 - 156, 2017, 9781315678443 |
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Race and Racial ProfilingNaomi Zack. The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy and Race, Oxford University Press, pp.425 - 435, 2017, 9780190236953 |
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Equality and ConscienceCécile Laborde; Aurélia Bardon. Religion in Liberal Political Philosophy, Oxford University Press, pp.233 - 248, 2017, 9780198794394 |
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Democracy, Privacy and SecurityAdam D Moore. Privacy, Security and Accountability, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, pp.105 - 124, 2016, 9781783484768 |
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Privacy, Democracy and Freedom of ExpressionBeate Roessler; Dorota Mokrosinska. Social Dimensions of Privacy, Cambridge University Press, pp.162 - 180, 2015, 9781107280557 |
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Honte et vie privéeAndré Lacroix; Jean-Jacques Sarfati. La honte, Le Cercle Herméneutique, pp.129-148, 2014, 9782917957288 |
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The value of privacyA Democratic Conception of Privacy, Author House Self Publishing, pp.51-89, 2013, 9781491878385 |
Democracy, deliberation and public service reformHenry Kippin; Gerald Stoker; Simon Griffiths. Public Services, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2013, 9781849665940 |
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IntroductionAnnabelle Lever. On Privacy, Routledge; Routledge, 2012, 9780415395700 |
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Introduction - Philosophy of Intellectual Property: Incentives, Rights and DutiesAnnabelle Lever. New frontiers in the philosophy of intellectual property, Cambridge University Press, pp.1-25, 2012, Cambridge Intellectual Property and Information Law |
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Privacy, Equality and the Ethics of NeuroimagingSebastian Edwards. I Know What You Are Thinking: Brain Imaging and Mental Privacy, Oxford University Press, pp.205 - 222, 2012, 9780199596492 |
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Privacy and DemocracyAnnabelle Lever. On Privacy, Routledge; Routledge, 2012, 9780415395700 |
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Is It Ethical To Patent Human Genes?Axel Gosseries; Alain Marciano; Alain Strowel. Intellectual Property and Theories of Justice, Palgrave Macmillan, 2008, 9780230007093 |
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Reviving Electoral Democracy2024 |
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Citizen Assemblies and the Challenges of Democracy2023 |
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Plaidoyer pour la déconstruction2022 |
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On Privacy2023 |
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Bastille Magazine: Peut-on sauver la démocratie ? engl version2024 |
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Les Assemblées Citoyennes et le Défis de la Démocratie2022 |
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Vote obligatoire2013 |