Title: Liberal thinkers taking care of the political elite
Abstract: The political elite is a real phenomenon which, at the same time, provokes controversial statments. It appears as a stumbling-block in modern times. By analysing the place of autority and hierarchies let us wonder where do the limits of liberalism and representative democracy lay. Indeed, liberal thinkers have complex relations towards democracy. They don’t praise equally all liberal principles.
The difficulty to build a conception of the political elite is striking. Is the difficulty amplified in the liberal thought?
I am to examine here three liberal thoughts : Francois Guizot, who steadily opposed democracy; Friedrich A. Hayek, a liberal who placed liberal values before democratic ones; and finally John Rawls, who considered that democracy and liberalism were the condition of each other, their principles being harmoniously bound in the liberal democracy.
By such a comparison, I intend to shed light on three polarities of liberalism, on three way to understand democracy. Liberalism, in its diversity, is concerned about the elite which would be the most desirable one. Does it make sense to speak of liberal elitism? Which values should convey such a formulation? These questions should help us to shed light on the liberal democracy’s mystery.
Publication Year: 2014
Publication Date: 2014-07-19
Language: en
Type: preprint
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