Political normativity and the functional autonomy of politics

• Published in: European journal of political theory Vol. 21; no. 4; pp. 627 - 649
• Main Author: Burelli, Carlo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.10.2022; Sage Publications Ltd
• Subjects: Army; Biology; Equality; Function; Morality; Norms; Political institutions; Politics; Social groups; Values; politics; political normativity; functions; political realism; political values; moralism; Functionalism
• DOI: 10.1177/1474885120918500
• ISSN: 1474-8851

This article argues for a new interpretation of the realist claim that politics is autonomous from morality and involves specific political values. First, this article defends an original normative source: functional normativity. Second, it advocates a substantive functional standard: political institutions ought to be assessed by their capacity to select and implement collective decisions. Drawing from the ‘etiological account’ in philosophy of biology, I will argue that functions yield normative standards, which are independent from morality. For example, a ‘good heart’ is one that pumps blood well, and a good army is one that it is effective at exerting military force. I then interpret realism’s naturalistic conception of politics as an etiological function of social groups: namely making binding collective decisions under persistent disagreement. I conclude that political institutions should be evaluated realistically by how well they perform this task. Finally, I assess trade-offs between this functional political normativity and other moral values. I conclude that justice, fairness, freedom and equality remain obviously important concerns, but only once the basic political function is secured.