ABSTRACT
Curious word, democracy. It has been claimed by almost everyone, in liberal as well as in totalitarian societies, in capitalist and in socialist ones, as both supporting individualism and communitarianism, and as a synonym for singularity as well as typicality (Ruttenburg, 1998, p. 10). “Democracy” thus represents an imagined present but also a dream for the future. It is a mystical idea because it is everywhere, hovering, always ready to justify any action, or always ready to express itself in “reality,” even if it never actually does. It is the horizon of much that we imagine as political. And so no one can argue against it. To argue against democracy is like saying one is against freedom. And in many societies that is akin to advocating for slavery or despotism—it is crazy, if not (also) treasonous; it is misanthropic, if not (also) evil.
