Political messianism and democracy: On possibility of political self-transformation of democracy

Abstract

The article deals with the relation of political messianism to ongoing debate on the crisis of democracy. The conceptual framework of political messianism is the convenient analytical tool because it makes the concept of crisis a starting point for formulating a different politics of redemption. Three conceptions of political messianism are being analyzed: as a revolutionary policies, as critical tool, as well as open possibility of radical changes. It shows in all three cases that deep beliefs play an important role in politics and that it is not possible to immunize political order from them. The second part of the paper points to the significance of these insights for understanding the discourse on the crisis of democracy which important part represents the loss of faith in the ability of democratic institutions to formulate a framework for meaningful political actions of citizens. As a result, there has been a transformation of the concept of democracy which now sees political actions of citizens-amateurs as a nuisance. Such a condition produces tensions which are burdening the functioning of democratic regimes. In conclusion, it is noted that contemporary democracies are not able to restore faith in the fundamentals of its existence as long as they insist on the primacy of the form of democracy, which in the meantime has become the norm, but fails to convince the citizens in their intrinsic values.