ABSTRACT
A distinguishing characteristic of the new Jacobins is that they passionately advocate democracy and want to spread it to all parts of the world. The neo-Jacobin promotion of democracy leaves all-important issues unaddressed. It neglects or conceals, specifically, that, as ordinarily defined by the new Jacobins, the mentioned principles are hard to reconcile with American constitutionalism. The latter has deep roots in Western Christian civilization in general and British culture in particular. A central objective of neo-Jacobin democratism is to sever the connection with old traditions and to put ideas of government on a new footing provided by a historical, enlightened rationality. To demonstrate the ideological and practical import of neo-Jacobin democratism, it is necessary to make a distinction between two different forms of popular government. Constitutional democracy means popular rule under self-imposed restraints and representative, decentralized, institutions. Plebiscitary democracy, by contrast, does not entertain any deep-seated suspicions regarding the popular desires of the moment.
