There is no democracy without transparency. The latter has long been ignored by aristocratic forms of government and now by contemporary manipulations of the masses. What is the way out?
Democracy Incorporated
Demotic Moments
Democracy is, by nature, a work in progress, and Western history has had very few occurrences when the “demos” became a politically self-conscious actor. What do these moments teach us? This post belongs to a reading series of Democracy Incorporated by Sheldon S. Wolin. For quick access to all chapters, please click here. On smartphones, share links are at the bottom of the screen. Disclaimer: This chapter summary is personal work and an invitation to …
Inverted Totalitarianism: Antecedents and Precedents
Democracy is threatened by the inverted form of totalitarianism resulting from the free-market ideology. Is the Founding Fathers’ defiance against democracy an antecedent to its “management” today?
Domestic Politics in the Era of Superpower and Empire
By its power logic and its military and economic weight on the international stage, the U.S. rightly fits the definition of an empire. To stand, it needs to deny ordinary Americans a genuine democracy.
Intellectual Elites against Democracy
James Madison’s reference to the “confusion and intemperance” of the multitude used to be the rationale of a government by the elite. How does elitism practically and culturally perpetuate itself today in the U.S.?
The Politics of Superpower: Managed Democracy
Corporate power is no longer an external force that occasionally influences policies and legislation; it is an integral part of the government. What are the main aspects of its “management” of democracy?
The Dynamics of the Archaic
Since the Ronald Reagan years, there is objective collusion in U.S. politics between religious archaism and market fundamentalism. How did this dynamic come to be and what makes it so powerful?
The Dynamics of Transformation
“American superpower,” “the greatest power in history,” or, more recently, “America first” have become part of American political values. What about constitutional democracy?
The Utopian Theory of Superpower: The Official Version
Promising “democracy, development, free markets, and free trade” to the world in the wake of 9/11, the U.S. administration unwittingly made the case that market fundamentalism contradicts democracy.
The New World of Terror
The war on terror was supposed to sign the dawn of a new world era. What does its “New World” mythology rest upon, and how do we, the people, come to accept fear as the principle of political power?