Sovereignty and the delegitimization of democracy

Abstract

This paper attempts to understand, from a standpoint of political philosophy, some reasons that explain what is conventionally called the legitimacy crisis of contemporary democracy. The investigation focuses on the distinction between the principles of democracy and those of sovereignty in its classical version. To do so, as to the contemporary understanding of democracy the paper is guided by the distinction between constituent power and constituted power developed by Antonio Negri. As to the formulations of sovereignty it resorts to the works of Bodin and Hobbes and then, guided by Rousseau, tries to show in which sense the principles of democracy become those of sovereignty. Key words: democracy, sovereignty, state.