Popular Sovereignty and the Democratic Threat

Abstract

Democracy is defined generally as some form of popular rule, but popular rule alone does not legitimize itself or the institutions intended to facilitate it. Democracy can be a normative imperative because of the benefits of democratic citizenship, typically assessed in terms of personal autonomy or freedom. Irrespective of how these benefits are conceived in alternative theories of democracy, there is an enormous gap between ideal and reality in open electoral regimes purporting to be democracies. Granted, only a small minority of the citizens in these societies enjoy theoretically envisioned benefits of democratic citizenship. However, this article suggests it is not only possible, but likely that genuinely open electoral institutions achieve a meaningful element of popular control. Moreover, while popular control in itself does not legitimize these institutions, those who call attention to the gap between ideal and reality cannot dismiss popular sovereignty as a complete myth, nor should they ignore the importance of the myth itself.