ABSTRACT
The problem of deference in political epistemology is that of working out the extent to which some people should defer to others when making up their minds about what decisions should be made regarding institutional arrangements within a social domain such as the modern nation state. This chapter defends a qualified endorsement of epistemic deference in politics on the basis of an epistemic division of labor. It is argued that epistemic deference in politics is consistent with the values of authenticity, virtue, knowledge, understanding, responsibility, mutual justifiability, equal opportunity for influence, and a rational attitude toward risk and trust.
