Democracy, citizenship and the question of pluralism

Abstract

This article defends the thesis that, contrary to what it is often said, a fully realized democracy is not a pacified society where a consensus has been established around one single interpretation of shared common values. The author examines the shortcomings of current models of democratic political theory and brings to light the mistaken premises of the politics of the ‘third way’. Against those who affirm that the adversarial model of politics has become obsolete and that we should nowadays been thinking ‘beyond left and right’ and aiming at a rational consensus, she puts forward an ‘agonistic’ understanding of democracy which acknowledges the ineradicability of antagonism and the crucial role played by the category of ‘adversary’ in mobilizing political passions towards democratic designs. The article ends with a critique of the model of cosmopolitan democracy and with the proposal for pluralist multipolar world order.