Liberal democratic values are ambiguous and can legitimize domination

Evidence

What these examples show is that solidarity, justice and fair treatment are not guaranteed by abstract ideals enshrined in national constitutions; they are ‘ambiguous’, conditional and susceptible to the infl uence of lay and political currents of opinion. In the public sphere, solidarity, justice and fair treatment can turn into a disputed value. What these examples also show is that liberal democracies are complex mechanisms of domination as well as empowerment (Fassin, 2005 ). — Cristian Tileagă, The Nature of Prejudice, 114

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: A dense, counterintuitive claim: the very ideals of liberal democracy are dual-use, serving as mechanisms of both empowerment and domination — resists easy summary and sits with one.
• XREF: connects to: Liberal constitutional democracy historically reserved political reality to economically privileged minorities. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 2336; Both liberal and socialist public-sphere models wrongly assumed the public can control the state — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 2375; Liberal critique questions the necessity and legitimacy, not just cost, of governing. — Michel Foucault, The Birth of Biopolitics: Lectures at…, 1591 (+8 more)

Related

• Liberal democracies are simultaneously mechanisms of domination and empowerment (similarity 0.85)
• Liberal constitutional democracy historically reserved political reality to economically privileged minorities. (similarity 0.81)
• Both liberal and socialist public-sphere models wrongly assumed the public can control the state (similarity 0.80)
• Liberal democracy’s neutral ideals mask racial and gendered domination (similarity 0.79)
• European democracies simultaneously empower and dominate through the same mechanisms (similarity 0.78)