Mill, de Toqueville and Schmitt: Problems of Democracy

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the problems of democracy as cited in three major works on the subject: John Stuart Mill's "On Liberty", Alexis de Tocqueville's "Democracy in America", and Carl Schmitt's "The Crisis of Parliamentary Democracy". The paper elaborates upon the views of Mill and de Tocqueville, who both believed that the tyranny of the majority was particularly worrisome in democracies, compared to other political systems. The paper also outlines the major features of Carl Schmitt's critiques of parliamentary democracy, in which he contrasts between how parliamentary government is designed to function and how it actually functions. The paper further discusses Schmitt's argument that democratic institutions function through corrupt political deal-making and that rational political debate and election results have little impact on government decision-making. The paper concludes that Mill and de Tocqueville realized that the solutions for these problems actually lay within the democratic system.

From the Paper:

"Schmitt was also critical of parliamentary systems because he believed that the nature of democracy itself is based upon meaningless abstractions such as equality and liberty. To him, these high-sounding concepts were little more than a sham, for most people care very little about equal rights and liberty and most political leaders care even less. Leaders deliver grand speeches in parliaments and legislatures about democracy, but behind the scenes, they act in their own self-interest. And in society, the average citizen is just as hypocritical, for they resent any action by the government or other citizens that is detrimental to their self-interest, while paying lip service to democracy and equal rights for all."

Sample of Sources Used:

• De Toqueville, Alexis. Democracy in America. Online. Available: http://xroads. virginia.edu/~HYPER/DETOC/toc_indx.html. 4 April 2007.
• Mill, John Stuart. On Liberty and Other Essays. BLTC. Online. Available: http:// www.utilitarianism.com/ol/one.html. 4 April 2007.
• Schmitt, Carl. The Crisis of Parliamentary Democracy. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1988.

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