EW d iE t eA d bLT y MH iA chN aeD l B P enO nW e ttE , HR u u b B r o u w e r , a n d R Routledge Studies in Contemporary Philosophy u t g e r C l a a WEALTH AND POWER s s e n PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES Edited by Michael Bennett, Huub Brouwer, and Rutger Claassen Wealth and Power Is political equality viable when a capitalist economy unequally distributes private property? This book examines the nexus between wealth and politics and asks how institutions and citizens should respond to it. Theories of democracy and property have often ignored the ways in which the rich attempt to convert their wealth into political power, implicitly assuming that politics is iso- lated from economic forces. This book brings the moral and political links between wealth and power into clear focus. The chapters are divided into three thematic sections. Part I analyses wealth and politics from the perspective of various political traditions, such as lib- eralism, republicanism, anarchism, and Marxism. Part II addresses the economic sphere, and looks at the political influence of corporations, philanthropists, and commons-based organisations. Finally, Part III turns to the political sphere and looks at the role of political parties and constitutions, and phenomena such as corruption and lobbying. Wealth and Power: Philosophical Perspectives will be of interest to scholars and advanced students working in political philosophy, political science, economics, and law. Michael Bennett is a Lecturer at Nottingham Trent University, working in the interdis- ciplinary tradition of politics, philosophy, and economics. His research focuses on the relationship between capitalism and democracy and has been published by journals including the Journal of Politics, the Journal of Business Ethics, and the Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy. He completed his PhD at the University of York in 2017 on epistemic democracy and capitalism. He has since been a post- doctoral researcher at Utrecht University and a visiting researcher at the University of Arizona and the London School of Economics. Huub Brouwer is Assistant Professor of Ethics and Political Philosophy at Tilburg University, where he works at the intersection of economics and political philosophy, in particular on the morality of markets and the design of just systems of taxation. Huub was the editor of the Erasmus Journal of Philosophy and Economics in 2018–2019. He obtained his PhD, in which he argues for a comeback of desert in debates about distributive justice, from Tilburg University in January 2020, and has published in journals such as the Journal of Moral Philosophy, Philosophical Studies, and Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society. He was a postdoctoral researcher at Utrecht University as part of the research project ‘Private Property & Political Power in Liberal-Democratic Societies.’ Huub has been a visiting researcher at Gothenburg University, Oxford University, Pompeu Fabra University, and Yale University. Rutger Claassen is Professor of Political Philosophy and Economic Ethics at the Depart- ment of Philosophy and Religious Studies of Utrecht University. He was the principal investigator of the research project ‘Private Property & Political Power in Liberal- Democratic Societies’ (2017–2022) and currently is the principal investigator of the pro- ject ‘The Business Corporation as a Political Actor’, funded by the European Research Council (ERC-Consolidator Grant, 2020-2025). He has published extensively on the moral value of economic institutions such as markets, property, and corporations in journals such as Economics & Philosophy, Law & Philosophy, and Politics, Philosophy & Economics. Rutger is the author of Capabilities in a Just Society: A Theory of Navi- gational Agency (CUP, 2018). He is the founding Program Director of the BA-program in Philosophy, Politics & Economics (PPE) at Utrecht University. Routledge Studies in Contemporary Philosophy Epistemic Injustice and the Philosophy of Recognition Edited by Paul Giladi and Nicola McMillan Evolutionary Debunking Arguments Ethics, Philosophy of Religion, Philosophy of Mathematics, Metaphysics, and Epistemology Edited by Diego E. Machuca The Theory and Practice of Recognition Edited by Onni Hirvonen and Heikki J. Koskinen The Philosophy of Exemplarity Singularity, Particularity, and Self-Reference Jakub Mácha Wealth and Power Philosophical Perspectives Michael Bennett, Huub Brouwer, and Rutger Claassen Philosophical Perspectives on Memory and Imagination Anja Berninger and Íngrid Vendrell Ferran Unconscious Networks Philosophy, Psychoanalysis, and Artificial Intelligence Luca M. Possati Updating the Interpretive Turn New Arguments in Hermeneutics Edited by Michiel Meijer For more information about this series, please visit: https://www.routledge. com/Routledge-Studies-in-Contemporary-Philosophy/book-series/SE0720 Wealth and Power Philosophical Perspectives Edited by Michael Bennett, Huub Brouwer, and Rutger Claassen First published 2023 by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 and by Routledge 4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2023 Michael Bennett, Huub Brouwer, and Rutger Claassen The right of Michael Bennett, Huub Brouwer, Rutger Claassen to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. The Open Access version of this book, available at www. taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. ISBN: 978-1-032-00319-1 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-032-00320-7 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-003-17363-2 (ebk) DOI: 10.4324/9781003173632 Typeset in Sabon by KnowledgeWorks Global Ltd. Contents Author Biographies viii Preface xi 1 Introduction: The Wealth-Power Nexus 1 MICHAEL BENNETT, HUUB BROUWER, AND RUTGER CLAASSEN PART I Theoretical Orientations 23 2 What about Ethos? Republican Institutions, Oligarchic Democracy, and Norms of Political Equality 25 JESSICA KIMPELL JOHNSON 3 Two Liberal Egalitarian Perspectives on Wealth and Power 47 RICHARD ARNESON 4 Public Choice and Political Equality 67 BRIAN KOGELMANN 5 Private Wealth and Political Domination: A Marxian Approach 85 IGOR SHOIKHEDBROD 6 Anarchism and Redistribution 104 JESSICA FLANIGAN vi Contents PART II Power in the Economic Sphere 125 7 Why Does Worker Participation Matter? Three Considerations in Favour of Worker Participation in Corporate Governance 127 THOMAS CHRISTIANO 8 Taming the Corporate Leviathan: How to Properly Politicise Corporate Purpose? 145 MICHAEL BENNETT AND RUTGER CLAASSEN 9 The Power of Big Tech Corporations as Modern Bigness and a Vocabulary for Shaping Competition Law as Counter-Power 166 ANNA GERBRANDY AND PAULINE PHOA 10 Economic Power and Democratic Forbearance: The Case of Corporate Social Responsibility and Philanthropy 186 EMMA SAUNDERS-HASTINGS 11 Independence in the Commons: How Group Ownership Realises Basic Non-Domination 206 YARA AL SALMAN PART III Wealth and Democratic Institutions 227 12 Hidden in Plain Sight: How Lobby Organisations Undermine Democracy 229 PHIL PARVIN 13 No Money, No Party: The Role of Political Parties in Electoral Campaigns 252 CHIARA DESTRI 14 Constitutions against Oligarchy 274 ELLIOT BULMER AND STUART WHITE Contents vii 15 Automation, Desert, and the Case for Capital Grants 295 HUUB BROUWER 16 The Power of Private Creditors and the Need for Reform of the International Financial Architecture 314 ANAHÍ WIEDENBRÜG AND PATRICIO LÓPEZ TURCONI Index 337 Author Biographies Yara Al Salman is an Assistant Professor of political philosophy working at Utrecht University. Yara obtained her PhD degree in political philosophy from Utrecht University in 2022 for her dissertation on group ownership. Richard Arneson  is a Distinguished Professor at the University of California, San Diego, where he holds the Valtz Family Chair in Philosophy. His short book Prioritarianism has recently been published (Cambridge). He writes mainly on social justice issues, consequentialism in moral theory, and applied ethics. William Elliot Bulmer is a Senior Programme Officer (Constitution Building) at the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, where he supports democratic constitutional change processes around the world. As well as specialising in comparative constitutionalism and the politics of constitutional change, he has a long-standing interest in the economic dimensions of political power. Thomas Christiano is a Professor and Head of Philosophy at the University of Arizona. He wrote The Constitution of Equality (Oxford, 2008) and The Rule of the Many (Routledge, 1996). He is Co-Editor in Chief of Politics Philosophy and Economics. His research is on democracy, distributive justice, international law, and economic justice. Chiara Destri is a Postdoctoral Researcher at Goethe University Frankfurt. She has been Marie Curie Fellow at Sciences Po, Postdoctoral Fellow at Justitia Amplificata, and Max Weber Fellow at the European University Institute. Her work has been published in Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, Res Publica, and Ethical Theory and Moral Practice. Jessica Flanigan is the Richard L. Morrill Chair of Ethics and Democratic Values and an associate professor of Leadership Studies and Philosophy, Politics, Economics, and Law (PPEL) at the University of Richmond. Author Biographies ix Anna Gerbrandy is a Professor of Competition Law at Utrecht University School of Law. She holds multiple positions of trust within the University and in societal organisations. Anna is a research director of the School of Law and Crown–appointed member of the Social and Economic Council of the Netherlands. Jessica Kimpell Johnson (DPhil Oxford) is the Director of Research for the Karsh Institute of Democracy at the University of Virginia.  She is also a lecturer in political theory and manager of the Nau Lab on the History & Principles of Democracy at the University of Virginia. Brian Kogelmann is an Assistant Professor in the John Chambers College of Business and Economics at West Virginia University, College Park. He works at the intersection of philosophy, politics, and economics.  Patricio López Turconi is a lawyer with research interests in the fields of international law, international organisations, and human rights. He holds a law degree from Universidad Torcuato Di Tella and an LL.M. from Georgetown University Law Center. Patricio has worked extensively on state obligations under international law, serving as a consultant for the Ministry of Economy of the Argentine Republic and the O’Neill Institute at Georgetown Law. Phil Parvin is a Reader in Politics and Head of International Relations, Politics, and History at Loughborough University, UK. He is the author of two books: Karl Popper (2013, Bloomsbury) and Political Philosophy: A Complete Introduction (2013, Hodder, with Clare Chambers). He has published numerous articles on a range of topics in contemporary political philosophy, including democratic participation, localism, deliberative democracy, migration, political ignorance, representation, and inequality. He is currently writing a monograph on the role of lobby groups in the theory and practice of democracy. Pauline Phoa is an Assistant Professor of European Law at Utrecht University School of Law and a post-doctoral researcher at the ERC- funded ‘Modern Bigness’ project headed by Anna Gerbrandy. Yara Al Salman is an Assistant Professor of political philosophy working at Utrecht University. Yara obtained her PhD degree in political philosophy from Utrecht University in 2022 for her dissertation on group ownership. Emma Saunders-Hastings is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the Ohio State University. She is the author of Private Virtues, Public Vices: Philanthropy and Democratic Equality (University of Chicago Press, 2022). Her research has also appeared in journals including the American Political Science Review and the Journal of Politics.