Democratic theory’s task is to reconstruct rational content in historically realized norms and practices.

Evidence

In my view, the role of democratic theory is to reconstruct the rational content of the norms and practices that have acquired positive validity since the constitutional revolutions of the late eighteenth century and, as such, have become part of historical reality. — Jürgen Habermas, A New Structural Transformation of the…, 10

Categorization

• DEFINE: States Habermas’s distinctive view that democratic theory reconstructs rational content already embedded in historically valid norms — bridging the empirical/normative divide he says the ideal-theory alternative oversimplifies.
• XREF: Directly counters Rawls’s ‘ideal theory’ separation; also the crux where Habermas’s reconstruction diverges from Adorno’s critique. — connects to: Fair historical understanding treats past rationality as equal to present rationality; Modernity’s need for self-justification arises from the collapse of traditional norms — Alex Callinicos, Against Postmodernism: A Marxist…, 264; Cultural stagnation can be reversed by choosing new norms and values — W. David Marx, Blank Space: A Cultural History of the…, 38

Related

• Neoliberal deregulation erodes democracy as politics abdicates to market pressure (similarity 0.80)
• Habermas openly deployed ‘democracy’ as a radical normative measure unlike his predecessors (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Fair historical understanding treats past rationality as equal to present rationality #complicates (0.78)
• Cultural stagnation can be reversed by choosing new norms and values #qualifies (0.73) — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 38
• Modernity’s need for self-justification arises from the collapse of traditional norms #expands (0.72) — Alex Callinicos, Against Postmodernism, 264