The impetus for creating this conceptual note stems from the observation that, in the abundant academic and political debate on democracy and its crises, as well as in the everyday use of the term, the concept of ‘democracy’ is often underspecified. In academic discourse, there is concern about the expansion of the concept to connote undemocratic modes of action. In political debate, ‘democracy’ is used vaguely to motivate political aspirations ranging from the expansion of group rights to the unrestricted exercise of executive power. Yet language is power, which is why a more nuanced understanding of what is and is not democracy, and what can and cannot legitimately be cast as democratic political action, would serve not only public debate and scholarly work, but also the actual evolution of our existing democracies.
In the following sections, key concepts related to democracy – as both a mode of governance and an aspiration for people’s self-governance – will be discussed. The discussion focuses on the key principles that different conceptions of democracy considered crucial for its realization. In addition, concepts offering alternatives to (liberal) democracy, such as illiberalism and authoritarianism, will be distinguished.
