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What Can We Learn from the Diversity Trumps Ability Theorem?

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Title: What Can We Learn from the Diversity Trumps Ability Theorem?
Authors: Barrett, Jacob
Source: Political Philosophy (3033-3830); 2025, Vol. 2 Issue 2, p544-574, 31p
Subject Terms: DEMOCRACY, INTEGRAL theorems, PROBLEM solving, VALUATION
People: TRUMP, Donald, 1946-
Abstract: The Diversity Trumps Ability theorem suggests that, under certain conditions, more diverse groups outperform groups of more individually competent members. Despite initial excitement about the theorem's application to democratic decision-making, critics have largely dismissed it as irrelevant to real-world democracies. I argue that this dismissal is unwarranted. After informally reconstructing the theorem, I explain that while it fails to literally apply in realistic cases, we can extract an important "baton-passing" mechanism from it that both employs a wider range of diversity and activates in more contexts than the theorem itself suggests. Most notably, it applies not only in problem-solving contexts where we share values, but also in bargaining contexts where we don't. And it can be given a dynamic interpretation that helps explain iterative improvement over time. Diversity doesn't really trump ability, but understanding when diversity facilitates baton-passing—and when it doesn't—can illuminate both democratic successes and democratic failures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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Database: Complementary Index
Description
Abstract:The Diversity Trumps Ability theorem suggests that, under certain conditions, more diverse groups outperform groups of more individually competent members. Despite initial excitement about the theorem's application to democratic decision-making, critics have largely dismissed it as irrelevant to real-world democracies. I argue that this dismissal is unwarranted. After informally reconstructing the theorem, I explain that while it fails to literally apply in realistic cases, we can extract an important "baton-passing" mechanism from it that both employs a wider range of diversity and activates in more contexts than the theorem itself suggests. Most notably, it applies not only in problem-solving contexts where we share values, but also in bargaining contexts where we don't. And it can be given a dynamic interpretation that helps explain iterative improvement over time. Diversity doesn't really trump ability, but understanding when diversity facilitates baton-passing—and when it doesn't—can illuminate both democratic successes and democratic failures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:30333830
DOI:10.16995/pp.23914