Çatışma mı konsensus mu? Demokrasi kuramının son otoriterleşme dalgasına yanıtı

Abstract

Son otoriterleşme dalgasının bazı ortak özellikleri bulunmaktadır. Yürütme erkine sahip popülist liderler yavaş, aşamalı ve seçmeli biçimde kendi ülkelerindeki demokratik kurumları bir yasallık görüntüsünün arkasında ortadan kaldıran otoriterleşme eyleminde bulunmaktadırlar. Bunu yaparken aynı zamanda olağanüstü halleri de kendi lehlerine kullanmaktadırlar. Bu özellikler güncel demokrasi kuramının çatışmacı ve oydaşmacı tarafları arasındaki tartışmaya yeni içgörüler sunmaktadır. Bu çalışma, bu içgörüleri kullanarak agonistik demokrasi ve müzakereci demokrasi arasında bir karşılaştırma yapmayı amaçlamaktadır. Karşılaştırmanın sonucunda agonistik demokrasi tarafından benimsenen stratejilerin ve aynı zamanda bu yaklaşımın demokrasiyi temellendirme biçiminin mevcut otoriterleşme dalgası dahilinde sorunlu gözüktüğünü ortaya koymaktadır. Agonistik stratejiler otoriterleşmenin faillerinin kullandığı stratejilerle bazı ortak özelliklere sahiptir ve bu yüzden bu stratejilerin demokrasiyi radikalleştirme ve derinleştirme amacıyla kullanılması olumsuz sonuçlanabilir. Bunun yerine müzakereci yapıların geliştirilmesinin ve güçlü bir kamusal alana sahip çıkılmasının vatandaşları otoriterleştirici güçlere karşı kuvvetlendireceği ve toplumda demokratik bir ethos'un varlığını sürdürmesini daha olası kılacağı öne sürülmektedir.

Keywords

• Demokrasi Kuramı
• Otoriterleşme
• Agonistik Demokrasi
• Müzakereci Demokrasi
• Çatışma
• Konsensus

Project Number

British Academy within the framework of the Newton Advanced Fellowship programme (NAFR1180137)

Conflict or Consensus? How Democratic Theory Responds to the Recent Wave of Autocratization

Abstract

The recent wave of autocratization has some common characteristics. Populist chief executives engage in an act of autocratization that slowly, gradually, and selectively dismantle democratic institutions in their respective countries behind a legal façade. Doing this, they also use states of emergency in their favor. These characteristics provide new insights on a debate between conflictual and consensual camps within contemporary democratic theory. This study aims to provide a comparison between agonistic democracy and deliberative democracy using these insights. The comparison suggests that the strategies adopted by agonistic democracy as well as its fundamental justification of democracy appear problematic within the context of current wave of autocratization. Agonistic strategies share some characteristics with those of enablers of autocratization and, therefore employing them to radicalize and deepen democracy could prove to be counterproductive. Instead, it is suggested that improving deliberative structures and maintaining a strong public sphere is more likely to empower citizens against autocratizing forces and maintain a democratic ethos in the society.

Keywords

• Democratic Theory
• Autocratization
• Agonistic Democracy
• Deliberative Democracy
• Conflict
• Consensus

Supporting Institution

This research is part of the research project ‘Facing Threats to Democracy under Conditions of Emergency: Understanding Post-Failed Coup Turkey and its Relations with Europe’ funded by the British Academy within the framework of the Newton Advanced Fellowship programme (NAFR1180137).

Project Number

British Academy within the framework of the Newton Advanced Fellowship programme (NAFR1180137)

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