Democratic Elitism and Western Political Thought
Dados Bibliográficos
AUTOR(ES) | |
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AFILIAÇÃO(ÕES) | The University of Texas at Austin |
ANO | 2009 |
TIPO | Article |
PERIÓDICO | Comparative Sociology |
ISSN | 1569-1322 |
E-ISSN | 1569-1330 |
EDITORA | Walter de Gruyter GmbH (Brill) |
DOI | 10.1163/156913309x447611 |
ADICIONADO EM | 2025-08-18 |
MD5 |
049573cd037b77422d4ff3f41a8a767b
|
FORMATO |
Resumo
Many political thinkers have viewed democratic elitism as closing a democratic road they believe is or should be open-ended. Their view of democratic possibilities reflects the auspicious circumstances of Western societies during the past several centuries and especially since World War II. However, it involves a conflation of liberal and democratic values. I examine why and how this has occurred, and I argue that liberal and democratic values must be more clearly separated in today's dangerous world. In step with Schumpeter, democracy must be regarded as a method or instrumental value that in some but by no means all circumstances promotes the ultimate liberal value of actively individualistic free people.