Democracy Today.indb - Universidade do Minho
Democracy Today.indb - Universidade do Minho
Democracy Today.indb - Universidade do Minho
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22<br />
DEMOCRACY TODAY<br />
As to the traditional liberal-democratic model, it is not easy to give<br />
a full definition for it since it draws too a long line, but it may be useful<br />
to keep in mind John Stuart Mill’s theory. As Cunningham says in his<br />
textbook-like Theories of <strong>Democracy</strong>, in On Liberty and Considerations<br />
on Representative Government, “John Stuart Mill set out what is often<br />
considered the first systematic explication and defense of liberal democracy.”<br />
(Cunningham 2002, 27) This model puts emphasis on individuals’<br />
rights and free<strong>do</strong>m – though Mill himself is not fond of an “abstract”<br />
idea of right. For this model the guiding principle could be found in<br />
Mill’s words: “the only purpose for which power can be rightfully<br />
exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will,<br />
is to prevent harm to others.” (Mill 1997, 48) Under this principle, there<br />
is the conventional distinction between public and private spheres.<br />
Citizen participation is valued more for its moral and pedagogical<br />
results than as a distinct way of ruling. (See, i.e. Mill 1961 418-420)<br />
Moreover, since direct participation on a large scale is not feasible,<br />
representative government is the ideal type.<br />
Generally speaking, traditional liberal theory is centered upon<br />
the protection of individual free<strong>do</strong>m and rights and largely considers<br />
politics as a means to realize these ends. Against this backdrop,<br />
Tocqueville’s theory distinguished itself as a special way to philosophically<br />
consider the “political” condition of human free<strong>do</strong>m. In<br />
the following, I will first discuss the notion of free<strong>do</strong>m in Tocqueville,<br />
which is remarkably different from the classical notion of it. Secondly,<br />
to further clarify this specific notion of free<strong>do</strong>m, the constitutive role of<br />
power in politics in Tocqueville’s theory will be talked about. Thirdly,<br />
as a way of “contemporizing” Tocqueville, I will give an overview of<br />
Tocqueville’s influence on Lefort’s theory of democracy. The conclusive<br />
note I want to strike is: the free<strong>do</strong>m Tocqueville wants to realize is a<br />
political free<strong>do</strong>m which <strong>do</strong>es not rely on a discourse of private and<br />
individual rights.<br />
Free<strong>do</strong>m in Tocqueville<br />
Tocqueville’s notion of free<strong>do</strong>m informs an important deviation<br />
from the traditional liberal-democratic model in conceiving political