 By a “system” we mean some entity with a multiplicity of working “parts” and multiple goals that the system aims to achieve. A question that arises, quite frequently, is how best to design a system that will maximize the attainment, or satisfaction, of its (most important) goals over time. As we have seen, this is a question that philosophers have attempted to answer with respect to the structure of scientific communities. Another good example of such systems are political systems, especially democratic political systems. There are many current democratic theorists who place much emphasis on the epistemological, or epistemic, properties of democratic institutions.