TRZY BŁĘDY DOTYCZĄCE DEMOKRACJI
THREE MISTAKES ABOUT DEMOCRACY

Summary/Abstract: This paper addresses three claims that are often made among contemporary policy-makers, political scientists and political theorists about democracy. The claims, in my view, are false and indeed revealingly false: they display a serious misunderstanding of the nature and appeal of democracy. As we see why they are false, we will come to appreciate dimensions of democracy that easily escape notice. I name the mistakes after outstanding thinkers who have made them. The first I describe as Berlin’s mistake, finding it in the work of the Anglo-Russian philosopher, Isaiah Berlin. The second I describe as Schumpeter’s mistake, naming it after the AustrianAmerican banker, economist and political thinker, Joseph Schumpeter. And the third I describe as Riker’s mistake, associating it with William Riker, the American political scientist, famous for his distinction between liberalism and populism.

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