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ACONCEPTUALHiSTORYOFPOLiTiCALREGimES:DEmOCRACY
,DiCTATORSHiP…
“inamoregeneral,vaguersenseandusuallyequatedthistermwithpopular
sovereignty,conjuringaninternationalorderbasedondemocraticformsof
government”.ThepopularityofthiswordpeakedagainafterWorldWarII,when
itwasembracedbythenewlyformedUnitedNations.Yet“democracy”became
anunquestionednormperhapsonlyinthe1980s,whenPresidentReagan
launchedtheprogramof“democracypromotion”(Munck2009:2).
Thus,fromalabeleveryoneavoided,“democracy”becomeaself-
-denominationthatalmostallregimesintheworld,eventhe“Democratic
People’sRepublicofNorthKorea”,nowclaimforthemselves.Itbearsemphasis
thatthelanguageof“democracy”emanatedfromtheUnitedStates,soinmost
oftheworldithasbeenanimport,ifnotsimplyanexport.Franceuntiltodayis
a“republique”beforea“democratie”(Nicolet1982:9).7
AsDunn(2005)incisivelyobserved,thishistoryposestwoquestions:
(1)Whyanysinglelabelwouldgainthemonopolyofbeingconsidered
irresistiblyattractive,(2)Whythisparticularlabel?Theanswertothefirst
questionmustbethattheideal-Morgan(1988)wouldsaythe“myth”-
of“self-governmentofthepeople”isanirresistibleforceinthemodernera
(Przeworski2011).Somethingisdeeplyappealingintheclaimthat,evenifall
cannotrule,thegovernmentgovernswiththeauthorizationofthepeople,that
weareruledbythosewewanttoruleus.Thisclaimisubiquitous.Giovanni
Gentile,atheoreticianofItalianfascism,assertedthat“ThefascistState...is
apopularState,andinthissensedemocraticStatepereccellenza”(quotedin
Cassese2011).SoclaimedCommunistleadersof“People’sDemocracies”.
Soechoedvariousgentlemenwhothoughtthatdemocracymustbe“tutelary”
(SunYat-sen),“guided”(Sukarno),or“sovereign”(ledbytheState,Surkov
2007).ThefoundationforsuchclaimswaslaidbyCarlSchmitt(1993
[1928]:372)forwhomdemocracyis“theidentityofthedominatingandthe
dominated,ofthegovernmentandthegoverned,ofhewhocommandsand
hewhoobeys”.Thisisaperfidiousdefinitionforitopensroomforanyruler
toassertthatheis“identical”withthosewhomhemanipulates,oppresses,
imprisons,andevenkills.Itallowsrhetoricalmaneuverssuchas“theRussian
politicalsystem-initsessencealthoughnotinform-doesnotdifferin
anythingfromreal,seriousWesterndemocracies”(ARussianjournalist,
MikhailLeontiev,inaninterviewwithaPolishnewspaper,Dziennik,January
19,2008).Theunityoftheleaderandtheledisthe“essence”ofdemocracy
whileparticularinstitutions,includingelections,arejust“forms”becauseno
rulercanadmittorulingwithoutapopularmandate.Butwhygoodpolitical
arrangementsacquiredthelabelattachedtwothousandyearsagotosome
13
7
OnthehistoryofthesetwotermsinFrance,seeNicolet(1982:18-31).
STUDIASOCJOLOGICZNO-POLITYCZNE.SERIANOWA■NR2(07)/2017■ISSN0585-556X
