How Real Democracy Really Works

2021 ◽  
pp. 17-45
Author(s):  
Jason Brennan
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Work ◽  
Political Beliefs ◽  
The People ◽  
Beliefs And Values ◽  
The Will ◽  
Models Of Democracy

Most people’s models of democracy do not match how democracies in fact perform or could be made to perform under realistic circumstances. They think citizens form their political affiliations on the basis of their beliefs and values. When citizens vote, they support politicians who will advance their favored ideas. In the end, democracies deliver, if not the will of the people, at least a compromise position among their separate wills. In contrast, Brennan will argue, the empirical work shows that most citizens lack any stable ideology or political beliefs, and their political affiliations are largely arbitrary. Their votes do not communicate their genuine support for different policies or values. Citizens are ignorant, misinformed, and tribalistic despite lacking firm beliefs. As a result, the more power we give them, the more we suffer the consequences. Whatever we say about democracy, we need to be realistic about how people behave.

On the Will of the People: Notes on the Political “Theory” of Populism

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Claus Offe
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Identity ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Conflicts Of Interest ◽  
Political Rhetoric ◽  
The Political ◽  
The People ◽  
National People ◽  
The Will

The “will of the (national) people” is the ubiquitously invoked reference unit of populist politics. The essay tries to demystify the notion that such will can be conceived of as a unique and unified substance deriving from collective ethnic identity. Arguably, all political theory is concerned with arguing for ways by which citizens can make e pluribus unum—for example, by coming to agree on procedures and institutions by which conflicts of interest and ideas can be settled according to standards of fairness. It is argued that populists in their political rhetoric and practice typically try to circumvent the burden of such argument and proof. Instead, they appeal to the notion of some preexisting existential unity of the people’s will, which they can redeem only through practices of repression and exclusion.

Volkswille: Reale Substanz oder notwendige Fiktion?

Der Staat ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 371-396
Author(s):  
Shu-Perng Hwang
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
The Real ◽  
The People ◽  
The Will ◽  
Right Wing Populism ◽  
The Individual

Angesichts des markanten Aufstiegs des Rechtspopulismus in den vergangenen Jahren drängt sich die Frage immer wieder auf, ob oder inwiefern das Parlament den eigentlichen Volkswillen (noch) vertreten kann, und wie im Zeitalter der Globalisierung und Digitalisierung der eigentliche Volkswille überhaupt festzustellen und effektiv durchzusetzen ist. In dieser Hinsicht steht das Vertrauen in die Fähigkeit des Parlaments, den wahren Volkswillen herauszubilden und zu artikulieren, erneut vor großen Herausforderungen. Durch eine vergleichende Analyse zwischen den Demokratietheorien Böckenfördes und Kelsens zeigt der vorliegende Beitrag, weshalb und inwiefern das weitverbreitete Verständnis des Volkswillens und dessen Rolle in der parlamentarischen Demokratie gerade vor dem heutigen Hintergrund eine kritische Besinnung verdient. Es wird argumentiert, dass gerade in demokratischer Hinsicht nicht die Suche nach dem „wahren Volkswillen“, sondern nach wie vor die Gewährleistung der Menschen- bzw. Grundrechte der Einzelnen und insbesondere der Minderheiten von zentraler Bedeutung sein soll. In view of the spread of right-wing populism in recent years, the question as to how the will of the people is to be ascertained and expressed has attracted much attention in constitutional scholarship. In particular, the issue of whether or to what extent the parliament is (still) capable of representing and demonstrating the will of the people has been repeatedly discussed and debated. Through a comparative analysis of Böckenförde’s und Kelsen’s democratic theories, this article critically examines the problems of the widespread understanding of the will of the people as a real-empirical existence and its significance for the realization of democracy. Accordingly, it points out why and in what sense the reference to the so-called real will of the people would undermine rather than promote democracy. This article concludes by arguing that, precisely for the sake of democracy, what is crucial is not to determine what the “real will of the people” is, but rather to guarantee the freedom of the individual and especially of the minorities.

scholarly journals Dismantling Turkey: The Will of the People?

2010 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nur Bilge Criss
Keyword(s):  
The People ◽  
The Will

scholarly journals THE SIYASAH SHAR’IYYAH PERSPECTIVE OF NAJIB’S TRANSFORMATIONAL AGENDA IN MAKING MALAYSIA INTO A HIGH INCOME NATION

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lukman Thaib
Keyword(s):  
Team Building ◽  
National Development ◽  
Shared Vision ◽  
High Income ◽  
The People ◽  
Clear Vision ◽  
Inspirational Motivation ◽  
Self Actualization ◽  
The Will ◽  
The Government

Malaysia is a country that since its independence has endeavored to practice democratic governance. In line with this, it seeks to ensure that the Malaysian government is representative of the will of the people. To achieve this, there must be in place numerous mechanisms to ensure accountability and transparency while also ensuring that it has an ‘ear to the ground’ so to speak. Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib believed that transformational leadership posts the leader in the role of mentor whereby he able to designate responsibilities to his followers as a means to achieve self-actualization which is a positive means of promoting team-building efforts. To achieve the goals shared between him as a country’s leader and Malaysian peoples as his followers, he believed that inspirational motivation is needed, as it provides meaning to achieving this shared vision on ‘ how to make Malaysia as a high-Income Nation by 2020’?. PM Mohd Najib has been successful in articulating a compelling vision of the Malaysia’s future and tied a high-income nation’s vision to Malaysians citizen values, and ultimately he is capable of being a ‘transformational leader’. It is to this end that this paper is committed, namely to analyzing the important role played by PM Mohd Najib towards outlining a clear vision of national development and whether this is in line with the objective of maqasid shar’iyyah. For this, PM. Mohd Najib appears to have opted to pursue ‘The Government Transformation Programme (GTP)’ to address seven key areas concerning Malaysia’s interest in realizing Malaysia’s vision to become a high-income nation by 2020. =========================================== Malaysia adalah negara yang sejak kemerdekaannya telah berupaya untuk melaksanakan tata kelola pemerintahan yang demokratis. Sejalan dengan ini, ada usaha untuk memastikan bahwa pemerintah Malaysia merupakan perwakilan dari kehendak rakyat. Untuk mencapai hal ini, harus terdapat banyak mekanisme untuk menjamin akuntabilitas dan transparansi sekaligus juga memastikan bahwa ia memiliki 'telinga ke tanah'. Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib yakin bahwa kepemimpinan transformasional mengganggap pemimpin sebagai mentor yang mampu menunjuk tanggung jawab kepada anggotanya sebagai sarana untuk mencapai aktualisasi diri yang merupakan sarana positif dalam mempromosikan upaya pembangunan tim. Untuk mencapai tujuan bersama antara Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib sebagai pemimpin negara dengan bangsa Malaysia sebagai pengikutnya, ia percaya bahwa motivasi inspirasional diperlukan sebagai makna untuk mencapai visi bersama tentang 'bagaimana membuat Malaysia sebagai negara berpenghasilan tinggi pada tahun 2020’? PM Mohd Najib telah berhasil dalam mengartikulasikan visi yang menarik dari masa depan Malaysia, dan berhasil mengikat visi pendapatan nasional yang tinggi untuk kepentingan warga Malaysia, dan akhirnya ia mampu menjadi 'pemimpin transformasional'. Ini adalah tujuan penulisan jurnal, yaitu untuk menganalisis peran penting yang dimainkan oleh PM Mohd Najib terhadap penguraikan visi yang jelas dari pembangunan nasional dan apakah ini sejalan dengan tujuan shar'iyyah maqasid. Untuk itu, PM Mohd Najib tampaknya telah memilih untuk mengejar 'Program Transformasi Pemerintah Program ' untuk menyelesaikan tujuh bidang utama mengenai kepentingan Malaysia dalam mewujudkan visi Malaysia untuk menjadi bangsa yang berpenghasilan tinggi pada tahun 2020.

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