Modern Democracy under the Struggle between Oligarchy and Populism

Subject Areas :

Mohsen Abbaszadeh Marzbali ¹ (Assistant Professor, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar. Iran)
Mohammad-Hasan Habibzadeh Shirazi ² (B.A Student in Political Science, Department of Political Science, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran)

Received: 2023-05-12 Accepted : 2023-06-27 Published : 2022-07-23

Keywords: Liberalism, Capitalism, Elitism, Populism, Representative democracy, Participatory democracy,

Abstract :

Modern Democracy has been facing various crises historically. The current crisis is rooted in a dual origin. On the one hand, orientation to shape a hidden quasi-oligarchic state and, on the other hand, the eternal specter of populism. Where this dilemma originates from and what effects do both have on democratic order? to respond to this central question, the paper hypothesizes that the origin of the dilemma traces back to reductionist conceptions on two dimensions of modern democracy; that is, on the one side, an elitism inherent to liberal-capitalist (more especially, neo-liberal) structures that makes democratic policy-making dependent on the requirements of the capitalist system. On the other side, an implicit populist potentiality of democratic structure weakens the rule of law due to resorting to ‘ordinary people’. To justify the hypothesis, the paper takes advantage of comparative analysis, as a theoretical framework, of approaches to defining democratic legitimacy; i.e. philosophical (normative) and sociological (descriptive). The research is conducted in an analytical–descriptive method and library-based data gathering. In conclusion, overcoming the crisis of modern democracy entails strengthening the participatory quality of democracy to make an equilibrium between the majority and the minority. Participatory democracy seems the structure in which normative and descriptive conceptions of legitimacy can overlap.