Many demands for democratic inclusion rest on a simple yet powerful idea. It's a principle of affected interests. The principle states that all those affected by a collective decision should have a say in making that decision. Yet, in today's highly globalized world, the implications of this 'All-Affected Principle' are potentially radical and far-reaching. Empowering Affected Interests brings together a distinguished group of leading democratic theorists and philosophers to debate whether and how to rewrite the rules of democracy to account for the increasing interdependence of states, markets, and peoples. It examines the grounds that justify democratic inclusion across borders of states, localities, and the private sector, on topics ranging from immigration and climate change to labor markets and philanthropy. The result is an original and important reassessment of the All-Affected Principle and its alternatives that advances our understanding of the theory and practice of democracy. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

‘The all-affected principle in thinking about democracy that forms the touchstone for this impressive collection is powerful, solving some important problems, creating others. This volume provides what is now the best available guide to key issues of empowerment, inclusion, and justice in democracy that the principle illuminates and challenges.’

John Dryzek - Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance, University of Canberra

‘This is a terrific and timely collection of essays. Carefully and coherently curated, the question that ties the contributions together - ‘whose interests should we take into account when making democratic decisions?’ - goes to the heart of how we understand, structure, and transform democracy to meet the 21st century challenges of complexity and globalization.’

Simone Chambers - University of California, Irvine

‘The principle that all those affected by a decision should be able to participate in its making is basic for democratic orders. But as the superb chapters in this volume show, taking it seriously raises fundamental questions about the nature of such orders. Archon Fung and Sean Gray have assembled a stellar group of scholars highlighting why and how to intensify and extend democracy in many ways beyond its present form. A great milestone in democratic theory.’

Rainer Forst - Professor of Political Theory and Philosophy, Goethe University Frankfurt

‘A rich and enlightening exploration of the meaning and implications of the deceptively commonsensical and practically tricky principle that what affects all should be decided by all.’

Helene Landemore - Political Science, Yale University