Carl Schmitt and the “triumphal march of democracy”
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31977/grirfi.v26i2.5846Keywords:
Liberalism; Democracy; Parliamentarism.Abstract
This text examines Schmitt’s critique of parliamentarism in the context of what he called the “triumphal march” of democracy. The aim is to highlight the conceptual distinction between liberalism and democracy developed by the author in the 1920s, as a starting point for understanding his decisionism. The aim is to argue that while the former is grounded in and has as its structural principle the belief in public discussion, democracy is anchored above all in the principle of identity between rulers and the ruled. Starting from this distinction, Schmitt can redefine democracy beyond its identification with specific institutional forms, moving beyond the formal and abstract character and absence of substantive criteria of legitimacy, which marked the misguided view of associating democracy and liberalism. As a result, mass democracy functions as an empty principle of legitimation, capable of sustaining diverse and even contrasting political forms, opening the door to its compatibility with intensified ways of decision-making.
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