Hlasistic Reformism and an Attempt by Vavro Šrobár to Develop a Theory of Democracy Cover Image

Hlasistický reformizmus a pokus Vavra Šrobára o teóriu demokracie
Hlasistic Reformism and an Attempt by Vavro Šrobár to Develop a Theory of Democracy

Author(s): Marcela Gbúrová
Subject(s): Politics, Political Sciences, Politics and law, History and theory of political science
Published by: Univerzita Mateja Bela
Keywords: Hlasists; Vavro Šrobár; theory of democracy; the government of the people; politics; laws; the magazine Hlas; T. G. Masaryk; Émile Louis Victor de Laveleye;

Summary/Abstract: Vavro Šrobár (1867-1950) was the protagonist of the Hlasistic movement in Slovakia and in 1919 he published the book entitled "Government of the People in a Democracy". The aim of this paper is to provide a detailed analysis of this book and all its chapters from the perspective of political science. The book originated as an attempt by the author to "instruct the Slovak people" of the brief history of the Czechoslovak State and also to instruct the civil public in the virtues and deficiencies arising from the model of democracy as the "government of the people". The result of the analysis of the model of democracy as derived by Šrobár is summarizing the advantages of this model, of which the present author has chosen six dominant signs: 1) The Government shall be under the control of the Parliament and public opinion. 2) The best form of political discourse is realism in politics. 3) In a democratic State, there are no subjects, just citizens. 4) The laws are only good when they have their legitimacy and lawfulness. 5) The State's Democratic establishment educates its citizens and teaches them how to think politically. 6) The well-functioning democratic establishment prevents social inequalities, which are the cause of revolutions.

  • Issue Year: 20/2017
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 64-79
  • Page Count: 16
  • Language: Slovak