Stability in Liberal Epistocracies

In this article, I argue that stability is one of the enabling conditions forepistocratic arrangements to function well and justify their claim right torule. Against this backdrop, I demonstrate that advocates of strategies toallocate exclusive decision-making power to knowledgeable citizens failto demonstrate that in a context marked by the fact of pluralism, liberalepistocracies will be stable. They could argue that liberal epistocracies willbe stable because epistocratic arrangements are better equipped thandemocratic decision-making bodies to produce outcomes that approxi-mate the common good. They could argue that liberal epistocracies willbe stable because there is a shared meritocratic set of values and ideas.Furthermore, they could opt for two standard liberal strategies, such asoverlapping consensus and modus vivendi. Yet, in all cases, the argumentfor the stability of liberal epistocracies is not persuasive.