Abstract

STEFFENS, Nikolay. Debates in contemporary democratic theory: notes on the relationship between the market theories of politics and the principle of the natural identity of interests. Conjectura: filos. e Educ. [online]. 2018, vol.23, n.spe3, pp.117-146.  Epub Sep 02, 2019. ISSN 2178-4612.  https://doi.org/10.18226/21784612.v23.dossie.6.

Contemporary discussion in democratic theory has been marked by debates around the crisis of representation. It is paramount for this discussion to redefine the tension between participation and representation which may be endeavored from the key aspect of deliberation. That is, a long-lasting tension between the representative and participative models would be now overcome (PLOTKE, 1997). The effort would be, then, to redefine the meaning of representation, whose analysis in the field of democratic theory were dominated, during part of the 20th century, by Schumpeterian and Neo-Schumpeterian theorists (URBINATI; WARREN, 2008). The opposition forum and market has been structured as of the tension between the following conceptual binaries: public argumentation vs. bargaining, deliberation vs. aggregation and, in the extreme, communicative vs. instrumental rationality. I aim to bring back the definition of a principle for the interpretation of the social archetype of the market, whose definition, in my view, must determine the contemporary debate background. I revaluate two concepts elaborated by classical utilitarianism: the principles of the natural identity vs. artificial identification of interests (HALÉVY, 1972). The former expresses the nature of sociability based on the archetype of the market (ROSANVALLON, 1999). I focus on the examination of this conceptual binary to point out how the nature of representation, a fundamental element of the modern political dimension, is incompatible with the utopic ideal of an automatic society.

Keywords : Principles of the natural and artificial identity of interests; Economic theories of democracy; Political market.

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