Voters’ moral burdens, political equality, and resistance to far-right populism

Mráz, Attila Gergely (2025) Voters’ moral burdens, political equality, and resistance to far-right populism. CRITICAL REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL AND POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY, 28 (5). pp. 773-794. ISSN 1369-8230

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Abstract

In some contexts, voters on one side of the political spectrum may need to compromise their moral convictions more than voters on the other side, by voting for a lesser evil to defend democracy from an imminent populist threat. Such threats typically come from the far-right at present. This paper offers an account of political equality – defending the Egalitarian Moral Burdens Principle (EMBP) and the No Double Burdens Principle (NDBP) – to theorize such differential moral burdens as a pro tanto egalitarian wrong. My account distinguishes such morally objectionable comparative burdens from other, non-comparative, unobjectionable burdens of moral compromise that are part of normal democratic politics. EMBP prohibits burdens of moral compromise that fall disproportionately on voters with a particular reasonable political conviction in the long term. NDBP prohibits that these moral burdens fall disproportionately on those voters who have taken the bulk of the burdens of (fighting) injustice. The paper argues that both far-right populism and a democratic counter-populist strategy against it – which I call restorative populism – infringe both EMBP and NDBP. Nonetheless, the paper shows that voters should vote for the lesser evil if that is necessary to defend democracy even if the moral burdens of lesser-evil voting fall disproportionately on them – thus infringing their political equality. It argues, though, that there are times when such infringements of political equality pro tanto entitle voters to abstain or engage in protest voting instead of voting for the lesser evil.

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