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to facilitate the selection of the best and to improve the government’s
ability to conduct public affairs.” (1988, 168) And also:
The acuity of his [Tocqueville’s] vision of democracy is, moreover, such that
it allows him to grasp […] the complicity between the resolute supporters of
order, who are prepared to increase the government’s power because of their
fear of anarchy, and its adversaries, who, in order to further the cause of the
people, either call for a new revolution or construct models of a society in
which all antagonisms disappear.” (Lefort 1988, 168) [Italics mine]
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Along this vein, Tocqueville’s contrast between political freedom
and “democratic despotism” could be compared with the opposition
between democracy and totalitarianism in Lefort’s theory. As we have
already discussed, Tocqueville sees the biggest danger of Democratic
society in its tendency to centralize everything in the name of the
sovereignty of the people. It not only demands obedience from its
subject citizens, but also tries to mold them in this culture of control.
Tocqueville distinguishes it from ancient despotism and calls it
“democratic despotism.” Regarding this, Lefort remarks: “there can be
no doubt about it: Tocqueville has pinpointed an event which marks
the irruption of an unprecedented domination.” (1988, 167) It closely
resembles Lefort’s characterization of totalitarian society:
When society no longer recognizes the existence of anything external
to it, social power knows no bounds. It is a product of society, but at the
same time it has a vocation to produce society; the boundaries of personal
existences mean nothing to it because it purports to be the agent of all.
(Lefort 1988, 167)
Totalitarian regime – and democratic despotism – is the denial of
the dividedness of society and it ignores the necessity of power being
counterbalanced. As a result, it denies the openness of society, which
both Tocqueville and Lefort aspire to preserve in modern society. In
this sense, Lefort states: “political freedom […] reveals the essence of
the political.” (1988, 170)
However, there are some differences between the two thinkers
as well. A crucial one is on the issue of human rights. In “Droits de