Sunday, September 30, 2018

BUILDING A DEMOCRATIC CONSENSUS IN THE AGE OF POLARIZATION

Francis Fukuyama, Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2018) ("Many theorists of modern democracy have argued that passive acceptance of a democratic creed is not enough to make such a system work. Democracy requires certain positive virtues on the part of citizens as well. Alexis de Tocqueville in particular warned of the temptation of people in democratic societies to turn inward and preoccupy themselves with their own welfare and that of their families exclusively. Successful democracy, according to him, requires citizens who are patriotic, informed, active, public-spirited, and willing to participate in political matters. In this age of polarization, one might add that they should be open-minded, tolerant of other view points, and ready to compromise their own views for the sake of democratic consensus." Id. at 159-160.).