Received Truths, Autonomy, and the Ethics of Political Representation

This article contributes to debates about the duties of democratic citizens in public discourse by examining the role of political representatives. I argue that representatives in democratic societies bear a distinctive and especially stringent duty not to deny what I call “received truths”: propositions supported by expert consensus and subjected to sustained public scrutiny. Drawing on the autonomy approach to representation, I claim that the representative role entails stronger ethical obligations than those of ordinary citizens. I contend that denying received truths undermines citizens’ capacity to understand and evaluate political disagreement and, in turn, to adopt informed positions within it. Furthermore, I reject the objection that the competitive and adversarial nature of politics absolves political actors from such ethical norm. Finally, I distinguish my argument from broader calls for honesty in politics, arguing that denialism of received truths is uniquely damaging.