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Tocqueville’s Influence on Lefort
Lefort’s primary use of Tocqueville’s theory concerns the latter’s idea
of Democratic revolution. In Lefort’s vision, Tocqueville’s theory of
Democratic revolution provides the perfect perception of what is called
the “forms” of society. Lefort considers democracy not only in terms
of political institutions, but also as a “form” of society. Democracy is
the only kind of political regime that openly acknowledges the political
nature of society. According to him, the political nature of society is
the truth that any society could not coincide with the representation
of its own meaning. There is an ever-present symbolic dividedness
in society and its representation. In this regard, there is a distinction
between democracy as a form of society and pre-modern societies in
that the latter conceals this “dividedness” in the unity of the representation
of the society and a transcendental God, whereas in modern
democracy, this dividedness is acknowledged. It is symbolized in
the “empty place of power,” meaning power in democracy can never
claim total representation of society and thus is subject to periodical
transference. In this regard, as Lefort says in his “The Question of
Democracy,” “the thing that marks him [Tocqueville] out from his
contemporaries is in fact his realization that democracy is a form
of society.” (Lefort 1988, 14) To a large extent, Tocqueville’s contrast
between Democracy and the ancien régime helps Lefort forge the
idea that “the birth of democracy signals a mutation of the symbolic
order.” (Lefort 1988, 16)
Besides this, Tocqueville’s notion of political freedom finds expression
in Lefort’s thought as well. In “Political Freedom and the Freedom
of the Individual,” Lefort finds in Tocqueville’s “political freedom”
inspiring hints of what a democratic regime should be. As democracy
acknowledges the intrinsic “dividedness” of society, it peacefully
takes in the social conflicts within society, with “conflicts” here being
interpreted as the antagonism among different representations of the
meaning of society. In a sense, democracy is “an institutionalization
of conflict.” (Lefort 1988, 17) All of these ideas – conflict and antagonism
– find their meaning in Tocqueville’s notion of political freedom.
For instance, Lefort writes, “in his [Tocqueville’s] view, democracy’s
prime virtue is its characteristic agitation, and not its potential ability
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ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE’S
NOTION OF POLITICAL
FREEDOM
Demin Duan