The Hard-Edged Boundaries of Inclusive Democratic Unity

Abstract

Abstract This article considers how democrats should work to protect and promote both political and social equality. Democrats should aspire to cultivate a sort of unity among citizens that is delineated by distinctly hard-edged boundaries. This unity should only encompass the democratic mainstream and should explicitly exclude autocratic citizens who reject political and social equality. Such political antagonism can serve as a resource to unite democrats, for the exclusion of some can help protect and promote the political and social equality of the rest. Moreover, such political antagonism can encourage citizens who straddle the divide between supporting democracy and condoning autocracy to definitively commit themselves to democracy. In short, political antagonism can help promote both forms of equality by expanding the reach of the democratic mainstream, and by diffusing any social antagonism which might exist within it.