Neo-Hobbesian democracy

Abstract

In political theory, the criticism of Rawlsian constructivist liberalism has been articulated intheories of political realism. John Gray, one of the promoters of realist liberalism, recommendsa neo-Hobbesian way of social coexistence which is based on the conflictual and antagonisticidea of political life. It takes social values and forms of life as incommensurable in modernmulticultural societies. Taking value-pluralism and its conflicts seriously, a theory of modusvivendi has been articulated among realist political thinkers. Being a post-liberal (or post-Enlightenment) theory, modus vivendi is more a practice oriented and open-ended theory thanphilosophical constructions based on high morality. Modus vivendi theorists make an emphasison the peaceful co-existence of social groups and a moral minimum of the political society. One ofthe deficiency of the theory is that it says not much about democracy, though it would be highlyuseful according to two contextual considerations.On the one hand, a modern political systemwould be impossible or outrageous without any form of democratic legitimacy. On the otherhand, there is an exhaustion of the liberal project(s) and the societies featured by multiculturalprosperity. Besides constitutional protection, defending democracy in this new context meansbalancing between cultural and other value-oriented groups in modern societies. In my paper,I make an attempt to examine the concept of democracy in the light of modus vivendi theory.