Is There a Place for Democracy from Russia?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15826/qr.2016.4.206Abstract
The authors analyse a book on the concept of democracy by A. V. Magun, a specialist in political philosophy. In this book, the author traces the history of democracy as a key concept of the European political tradition, paying special attention to paradoxes in the Western understanding of democracy. Magun stresses the tension between the stability of liberal democracy in the modern era and the revolutionary, ‘demonic’ potential of democracy. According to the reviewers, the book could serve as a starting point for a deeper study of democracy as an integral concept of Russian political culture. However, such an analysis would require a shift in the focus from the Western canon (Aristotle – J. Locke – J. Rawls) to the works of Russian authors (from A. N. Radishchev to V. I. Lenin) who contributed to the emergence of intellectual paradigms of democracy in the 19th and 20th centuries. In addition, the reviewers point out the problematic methodology behind the history of concepts.
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