Decline of the post-war, modern concept of democracy? On the change in the anthropological foundations of European politics

ABSTRACT

Beginning with the sources of the dispute over the meaning of the modern democratic ideal, this article shows two opposing, anthropological positions (constrained and unconstrained anthropology) present in the European political tradition, founding two differing content-wise, yet similar understandings of democracy. Against this intellectual background, the author discusses the thesis that with the negation of the objective nature of moral norms and the sanctioning of so-called morality policies, the modern, post-World War II model of democracy founded on constrained anthropology is heading towards its decline.

KEYWORDS:

• Modern democracy
• constrained anthropology
• unconstrained anthropology
• morality policy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 This text is partly based on second chapter of Gierycz 2021b.

2 This simplification is most apparent particularly in the Polish context, as it practically ignores – just like Dahl's thesis – the extensive experience of nobles’ democracy in Poland.

3 Should one of these two paradigms of understanding democracy prevail, this would probably mean another era has begun, and modernity has become a closed chapter.

4 More on constrained anthropology see in: Gierycz (2021a, 143–170).

5 More on unconstrained anthropology see in: Gierycz (2021a, 171–228).

6 As pointed out by one of its authors, René Cassin, in defense of the wording of Article 1: ‘In the past decade, millions of people lost their lives only because these principles were ruthlessly derided’.

Additional information

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Michał Gierycz

Michal Gierycz, Associate Professor of Political Science, Dean of the Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences at Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw. His main research areas are: axiology and anthropology of politics; relations between religion and politics; European integration. Winner of the Countess Aniela Potulicka Award (2018), the Feniks Award (2018). Lately published: European Dispute Over the Concept of Man. A Study in Political Anthropology [2021 by Springer, in series: Contributions to Political Science].