Demokratyzacja demokracji, czyli niedokończony projekt nowoczesności
The democratisation of democracy. An unfinished project of modernity

Author(s): Tadeusz Klementewicz
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Political Theory, Political Sciences, Security and defense
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: modernity; democratisation of liberal democracy; crisis of neoliberal capitalism; prosperity without (economic) growth
Summary/Abstract: The modernity of Enlightenment and the bourgeoisie has brought about several qualitative changes. In economy, they included: freedom of contract, equality before the law and, separately, within the realm of political life, civic liberties. The objective became to create a society of individuals characterised by freedom, equality and fraternity – and concentrated on financial success. Yet, modernity remains an unfinished project. One thing was omitted as it was being put into life: the role of private ownership of means. The very idea of empowerment of an individual was realised in a capitalist market economy. In such a society, under market conditions, liberty and equality become exploitations and dominations in social relations. The consequence is the replacement of a civic democracy with a market democracy. An interesting switch occurred. A citizen was replaced with an investor; a voter turned into a creditor, usually from another country, elections were replaced with share prices, and public opinion – with interest rates. Consequently, democracy changed its function: it became a sphere for expressing populist discontent rather than a rational debate on the hierarchy of social needs and the strategy for meeting them. The climate crisis amplifies the call for a profound reconfiguration of the current neoliberal form of capitalism. It deprives more and more people of material and cultural conditions for meeting social needs: health, education, reproduction, and free time. Meanwhile, the politics of the common good requires a different type of state than what we know today. Only then could the Greek idea of a good life return – a life of harmony with nature and community.

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