000			01071pab a2200157 454500
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100			_aBird, Colin
245			_aThe possibility of self-government
260			_c2000
300			_ap.563-77
362			_aSep
520			_aMany have suggested that the findings of social choice theory demonstrate that there can be no "will of the people." This has subversive implications for our intuitive concept of self-government. I explore the relation between the notion of a "social will," that of self-government, and the impossibility theorems of social choice theory. I conclude that although the concept of the social will is essential to that of self-government, the findings of social choice theory do not cast doubt upon the possibility of either. Unlike many attempts to respond to the threat posed by social choice theory, my argument does not require any appeal to the problematic notion of the common good. - Reproduced
650			_aSelf government
773			_aAmerican Political Science Review
909			_a45951
999			_c45951 _d45951