The Myth of Bourgeois Democracy
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Book chapter › Research › peer-review
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The Myth of Bourgeois Democracy. / Mulvad, Andreas Christian Møller; Stahl, Rune Møller.
From Financial Crisis to Social Change: Towards Alternative Horizons. Cham : Palgrave Macmillan, 2018. p. 171-195.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Book chapter › Research › peer-review
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TY - CHAP
T1 - The Myth of Bourgeois Democracy
AU - Mulvad, Andreas Christian Møller
AU - Stahl, Rune Møller
PY - 2018/4/5
Y1 - 2018/4/5
N2 - Mulvad and Stahl challenge the claim that parliamentary democracy is inherently ‘bourgeois’, identifying the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek as the most prominent contemporary proponent of this misguided idea. The chapter proceeds in three parts. First, it explores how the introduction of parliamentary democracy—defined as the ‘constitutionalisation’ of state power under a legislative body, with regular elections and universal suffrage—was everywhere a result of the activity of social movements working against the aspirations of both conservatives and liberals. Second, a rereading of Marx reveals that he actually wanted to radicalise representative democracy, not abolish it. Third, it is argued that Leninists and liberals have colluded in sustaining the myth of parliamentary democracy as a bourgeois invention. The conclusion asserts that the left’s task today is to defend existing representative institutions from persistent attacks, not abandon them.
AB - Mulvad and Stahl challenge the claim that parliamentary democracy is inherently ‘bourgeois’, identifying the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek as the most prominent contemporary proponent of this misguided idea. The chapter proceeds in three parts. First, it explores how the introduction of parliamentary democracy—defined as the ‘constitutionalisation’ of state power under a legislative body, with regular elections and universal suffrage—was everywhere a result of the activity of social movements working against the aspirations of both conservatives and liberals. Second, a rereading of Marx reveals that he actually wanted to radicalise representative democracy, not abolish it. Third, it is argued that Leninists and liberals have colluded in sustaining the myth of parliamentary democracy as a bourgeois invention. The conclusion asserts that the left’s task today is to defend existing representative institutions from persistent attacks, not abandon them.
KW - Faculty of Social Sciences
KW - Parliamentary democracy
KW - Republicanism
KW - Liberalism
KW - Marx Žižek
U2 - 10.1007/978-3-319-70600-9
DO - 10.1007/978-3-319-70600-9
M3 - Book chapter
SN - 9783319705996
SP - 171
EP - 195
BT - From Financial Crisis to Social Change
PB - Palgrave Macmillan
CY - Cham
ER -
ID: 188221309