Political democracy

The issue of interest to us is democracy in a specific sphere of society, namely political democracy. And to delimit our subject still further, I would emphasize that we are only concerned with political democracy on the national level. Thus, the focus of interest is the control of the highest organs of state, those which determine the overall public policy, which is primarily pursued via legislation. Political democracy may in this context be formulated as follows: Public policy is to be governed by the freely expressed will of the people whereby all individuals are to be treated as equals. This articulates a general principle of popular sovereignty and autonomy; the people are to rule themselves. Their explicit preferences therefore constitute the ultimate ground for the legitimacy of political decision-making. To this is linked a principle of freedom; so far as possible the free, uninhibited will of the people is to be expressed in the political decision-making – and, we may add, no individual preferences shall then be regarded as superior to others. In the latter we find an obvious principle of equality. Many would surely agree on these principles for democracy as a mode of government. The problems arise when we would go on to say what they may be thought to mean in concrete terms. For the ideas so formulated are only general aims which may allow scope for diverse interpretations. Moreover we may – as realists – not only consider the objectives; these must be confronted with our knowledge of facts, so that the forms of government which are prescribed may to a reasonable extent be adjudged capable of materialization.