Suchergebnisse

Rezension von:Philip Manow (2020): (Ent-)Demokratisierung der Demokratie, Berlin: Suhrkamp. 215 S., ISBN 978-3-518-12753-7, EUR 16,00.

During the last decade of the twentieth century, the concept of "imperialism" was not used very much by social scientists. But after 9/11, the concept started a new career. Not only left-wing theorists, but also members of the establishment like Michael Walzer and Michael Ingnatieff used the term to describe the foreign policy of the US under George W. Bush. Marxists like Leo Panitch, Sam Gindin and David Harvey argued that within the "New Imperialism" the ultra-imperialistic cooperation between the US and Europe plays a dominant role for the world order. A decade later, the rivalry between the big empires has aquired new importance.

"During the last decade of the twentieth century, the concept of 'imperialism' was not used very much by social scientists. But after 9/11, the concept started a new career. Not only left-wing theorists, but also members of the establishment like Michael Walzer and Michael Ingnatieff used the term to describe the foreign policy of the US under George W. Bush. Marxists like Leo Panitch, Sam Gindin and David Harvey argued that within the 'New Imperialism' the ultra-imperialistic cooperation between the US and Europe plays a dominant role for the world order. A decade later, the rivalry between the big empires has aquired new importance." (author's abstract)

"Democracy" is a political term and controversial as such. It is in the nature of political con-cepts that they are not only descriptive but that they are also connected to options of agency. The concept of democracy is associated with a number of widely diverging political strategies. The most diverse political currents, movements, governments refer to themselves as "democratic"; widely different political systems are called "democratic". And especially in the context of Western "democracies" the description "democratic" is supposed to translate as "most valuable". The contribution departures from concrete rhetorical classifications as "democratic" or "undemocratic" and focuses primarily on two antagonistic strategies: While concepts of "social democracy" conceptualize democracy as an unfinished process and de-mand the democratization of society (including the economic realm), concepts of liberal de-mocracy seek to restrict the democratic principle to the realm of institutionalized politics.