ABSTRACT
Whoever believes with a certainty bordering on the absolute that he or she knows what is "right" for the community (the people, the nation, the class, the party), will tend to reject as an affront the idea of putting to a vote what is "right." Democracy is difficult to mediate when the confrontation of clearly defined values and interests is — presumably — at stake and when these can be clearly categorized as "good" (or "right") and "bad" (or "wrong"). Democracy needs a certain measure of skepticism, self-doubt, and the readiness to imagine one's own (political) defeat and accept it. Democracy needs the basic virtue of relativism (Kelsen 1963). Absolute certainties fare poorly with the democratic process that can bring about one result, but just as easily another.
