Representative democracy as tautology : Ankersmit and Lefort on representation
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1474-8851; 1741-2730
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European journal of political theory, 2006, Vol. 5, No. 3, pp. 321-342
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NÄSSTRÖM, Sofia, Representative democracy as tautology : Ankersmit and Lefort on representation, European journal of political theory, 2006, Vol. 5, No. 3, pp. 321-342 - https://hdl.handle.net/1814/67832
Abstract
Representative democracy is often assessed from the standpoint of direct democracy. Recently, however, many theorists have come to argue that representation forms a democratic model in its own right. The most powerful claim in this direction is to be found within two quite different strands of thinking: the aesthetic theory of Frank Ankersmit and the savage theory of Claude Lefort. In this article, I show that while Ankersmit and Lefort converge in their critique of direct rule, they provide us with two distinct models of democracy. Aesthetic democracy, I argue, in the end falls short as a democratic recuperation of representation. It reduces representation to delegation. Savage democracy proves more fruitful in this respect. It offers a representative view of politics without committing itself to the premises associated with political delegation.
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First published online: 1 July 2006