An Agonistic Theory of Democratic Parliamentarism. The Case of the Walloon Parliament

Archibald Gustin

doi:10.4236/ojps.2022.121006

Abstract

Chantal Mouffe is one of the most discussed political theorists of recent years. One of her most important theoretical contributions is her critique of deliberative democracy for its inability to think the political in terms of antagonism and dissensus. The aim of this paper is therefore to examine to what extent Mouffe’s theory of democracy, which she calls “agonistic pluralism” and which she proposes as an alternative to deliberative democracy, can be used to think about the role of the parliamentary institution in a democratic polity. To this end, we mobilize a qualitative method based on the realisation of fifteen semi-structured interviews in order to analyze the case of the Walloon Parliament, with the aim of showing how democratic parliamentarism realizes the staging of the antagonism which, according to Mouffe, founds the domain of the political1.

Highlights

We mobilize a qualitative method based on the realisation of fifteen semi-structured interviews in order to analyze the case of the Walloon Parliament, with the aim of showing how democratic parliamentarism realizes the staging of the antagonism which, according to Mouffe, founds the domain of the political1
In the agonistic pluralism proposed by Mouffe, parliament is entrusted with the role of transforming the antagonism that can take place between political opponents into a relationship of an agonistic nature, which sees opponents mutually recognizing the legitimacy of their claims, rather than enemies seeking to eradicate each other
The sociological study of Walloon parliamentary interactions has enabled us to observe that, on the one hand, the nature of Walloon parliamentary relations is that of a relationship between adversaries, characteristic of the democratic pluralism advocated by Mouffe, and that, on the other hand, the Walloon parliamentary institution occupies a fundamental place in the maintenance and perpetuation of this agonism

Summary

Introduction

Deliberative democracy states that “it is a necessary condition for attaining legitimacy and rationality with regard to collective decision making processes in a polity, that the institutions of this polity are so arranged that what is considered. Deliberative democracy is regularly criticized for its inability to think of a democratic regime in political terms. The political theorist Chantal Mouffe, conceiving the realm of politics as one of exclusionary antagonism, concludes that the theory of deliberative democracy, as it is usually formulated, is incapable of politically thinking a democratic regime, as it does not take into account the antagonistic and hegemonic nature of the political The political theorist Chantal Mouffe, conceiving the realm of politics as one of exclusionary antagonism, concludes that the theory of deliberative democracy, as it is usually formulated, is incapable of politically thinking a democratic regime, as it does not take into account the antagonistic and hegemonic nature of the political (Mouffe, 1999a; 2016: pp. 19-26)

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Conclusion