Gaspare Nevola

Il malessere della democrazia contemporanea e la sfida dell' "incantesimo democratico"

 

 

 

214

Gennaio-Aprile 2007

Anno LXXII    n. 1

 

 

 

Summary - This essay deals with some essential questions concerning our democracies and the theory of democracy: Which is the condition of democracy today? Does rational-utilitarian paradigm offer satisfactory explanations of contemporary political phenomena and trends? What can symbolic-mythical-identitarian dimension of politics say about the liberal-democratic world? My argument try to clarify: 1) the nature of contemporary democratic crisis (the so called “democratic disappointment”); 2) the political grounds that make symbolic-mythical-identitarian dimension an ineradicable element of democratic life (i. e.: the normative and practical meaning of democracy legitimacy and its foundation); 3) the deep political bond between democratic system and (national) political community; 4) the importance of what is here called “democratic enchantment”; 5) the distinction between civil religion and constitutional patriotism as two political culture languages structuring the “democratic enchantment”. Finally, the essay supports the thesis that a “democratic enchantment”, consistent with principles, values and institutions of mass liberal-democracies, may be a response to the “post 1989” democratic crisis, in particular in front of the challenge of neo-populism: a response able to connect the democratic method with the democratic creed.