Fokin K. V.

№ 3, 2020

• "Deep" Democracy and Political Authority

  The article is devoted to the problem of political authority and its features in modern democratic communities. The author interprets authority as a socio-political institution rooted in the biological nature of man and evolving throughout history. According to his concept, trust in political authority is conditioned by faith in an external authority delegating it — God, an imaginary community in the form of a Nation or State, or a value system, which is Democracy. Submission to democratic authority (unlike other types) is based on the "new" normative (moral) Foundation: not "right or wrong, but this is my country", but rather "this country of law, so it's mine".

  The author's argument generally rehabilitates the traditional defense of liberal democracy. While acknowledging that postmodern and anarchist criticism of democratic authority has its own logic and grounds, he points out that a number of its provisions do not correspond to the latest empirical data, including from the field of biopolitics. From his point of view, since the main institutional Foundation of democracy is the value system and citizens ' faith in it, it is in principle not afraid of the "state of emergency" itself, which predisposes to the reconstruction of authoritarian practices, since a high level of interpersonal trust, solidarity, faith in democratic values and accountability will allow restoring the "open society" regime. The threat to liberal democracy is a mood of frustration, panic and fear, and if they prevail, it may indeed suffer.

  DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2020-98-3-34-61

  Pages: 34-61