Why People Need Authority
If I want to be free to play the violin in a well-performed Beethoven symphony, then I must submit myself to the authority of a conductor to coordinate the musicians’ play.
We often discount the way in which authority and hierarchy contribute to our freedom to pursue the particular goods that we care about (and that give society texture and interest). In a democracy I have a duty during election season to cast an informed vote. But if I accept the legitimate authority of Congress, then after I vote I can largely concentrate on raising my family or doing my job well. I need not pore over the details of the Federal budget. That’s why nobody actually wants “participatory democracy,” a non-hierarchical fantasy that progressive political theorists often champion.
