In recent years the view that the non-instrumental value of democracy is a relational value, particularly relational equality, gained prominence. In this paper I challenge this relational egalitarian version of non-instrumentalism about democracy’s value by arguing that it is unable to establish a strong enough commitment to democracy. I offer an alternative view according to which democracy is non-instrumentally valuable for it establishes relationships of mutual service among citizens by enlisting them in the collective project of ruling the polity justly together which is a self-standing source of value for them. Relating in the mode of mutual service is not a species of relating as equals; it is a distinct relational value. Democracy is uniquely suited to realize this relational value, for it renders citizens co-authors of the fundamental rules of the system of social cooperation under which they live, and only as co-authors of these rules are they able to mutually serve each other in a way that is appropriate within their relationship as citizens of the same polity. For this reason, a strong commitment to democracy can be based on the relational value of mutual service, which therefore better fits the theoretical purposes of non-instrumentalism than relational equality.

近年来，民主的非工具性价值是一种关系价值，特别是关系平等的观点越来越突出。在本文中，我对这种关于民主价值的非工具主义的关系平等主义版本提出了挑战，认为它无法对民主建立足够强大的承诺。我提供了另一种观点，根据该观点，民主具有非工具价值，因为它建立了相互服务的关系通过让公民参与共同公正地统治政体的集体项目，这对他们来说是一个独立的价值来源。以相互服务的方式交往不是平等交往的一种；它是一个独特的关系值。民主特别适合实现这种关系价值，因为它使公民成为他们赖以生存的社会合作体系的基本规则的共同制定者，并且只有作为这些规则的共同制定者，他们才能在一种适合他们作为同一政体公民的关系的方式。出于这个原因，对民主的坚定承诺可以基于相互服务的关系价值，因此比关系平等更符合非工具主义的理论目的。