The crisis of liberal democracy and the exclusion of antagonism from politics

Abstract

The emergence of far-right discourses in countries with democratic institutions considered stabilized gains resonance, electoral support and representation in the institutions of liberal democracy, at the same time as they question the very liberal democratic model in which they emerged, and which gave them a certain degree of legitimacy. In this article, the central objective is to address the relationship between democracy and antagonism, based on the Discourse Theory of Laclau and Mouffe, and to present a reflection on the stability and crisis of liberal democracy in dialogue with institutionalist and populist points of view. I conclude with the assertion that both the stability of democracy and its crises depend on the way in which its institutions incorporate (have incorporated) or not the political antagonisms (conflicts) that emerge (have emerged). Furthermore, I explain the importance of antagonism for the vitality of democracy and the necessary permeability of institutions to citizens' complaints.

Keywords:
discourse theory; antagonism; democracy; crisis of liberal democracy