2023

Palonen, Kari

What is represented in the democratic style of politics? There are two opposed visions to this question. One is based on the opinions of citizens, which are then transferred to political decisions in elections and parliamentary resolutions. The opposite view uses questions on the political agenda as the point of departure and regards both election campaigns and parliamentary debate as procedures to modify the given opinions towards forming political alternatives to the agenda. In the former view, the latter might appear as a disturbance of citizens’ opinions; in the latter, the former could be understood to lack political literacy in the face of the issues on the agenda. In the former view, political questions are simple and immediately decidable; in the latter, on the contrary, political questions are complex and require both time for reflection and willingness to consider opposed alternatives. In this chapter, as a continuation of my studies on parliamentary politics and Max Weber’s thinking, I present a thought experiment with historical references and take a clear stand in favour of the procedural style of democracy.