Democratic learning

Ed West bemoans the fact that people who don't understand what AV is might help to bring it about. He expands the point into a general lament about how those who know less about a subject often get to have more influence in a democracy than those who know more. So what's his bottom line? Is Ed suggesting (whether frivolously or seriously) votes only - or more votes - for the better educated? One or two drawbacks might be mentioned if so. Knowing more doesn't always go with having a less selfish attitude to matters of public interest; and there's a long tradition of political thought - nourished by John Stuart Mill, Rosa Luxemburg and John Dewey, among others - according to which one of the virtues of democracy is its educative effect on participants. Even if this effect can be overstated, there ain't much to be said for shutting people out of processes from which they often learn.