Zivilgesellschaft im Umbruch

To say that »democracy is in crisis« is hardly a novel claim. Crisis seems to be a permanent condition of democracy and has been since its origins in antiquity. Of course, there are major differences between ancient and modern democracies. Indeed, the model of representative democracy emerged in part as a reaction to the failure of the direct democracies of the Greek city-states, which fell victim to the temptation of the demagogues. Today, the danger stems from populists. This shift in terminology may also be the reason why many are calling for the infusion of elements of direct democracy to deal with the current crises. The works discussed in this paper also answer this call. Their hope rests on the power of citizens to solve the crisis. Plutarch is a notable exception. With a cool eye, he describes the susceptibility of the citizen to manipulation and other forms of corruption, and, on this basis, develops new possibilities for actively shaping politics for the better.

Jan-Werner Müller, Freiheit, Gleichheit, Ungewissheit. Wie schafft man Demokratie?, Berlin: Suhrkamp, 2021. 270 S.; Christina Lafont, Unverkürzte Demokratie. Eine Theorie deliberativer Bürgerbeteiligung, Berlin: Suhrkamp, 2021. 447 S.; Otfried Höffe, Für ein Europa der Bürger, Tübingen: Klöpfer & Narr, 2020. 285 S. Bürger-Ethos, politisches Engagement und die Bewahrung des Status Quo. Plutarch, Politische Ratschläge, eingeleitet, übersetzt und mit interpretierenden Essays versehen von Frank Daubner, Vera Hofmann, Gustav Adolf Lehmann und Tobias Thum, hrsg. von Gustav Adolf Lehmann, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020. XII, 292 S.