- Title Pages
- Foreword
- Editor’s Introduction
-
Chapter 1 Political Theory as a Vocation -
Chapter 2 Political Theory -
Chapter 3 Transgression, Equality, and Voice -
Chapter 4 Norm and Form -
Chapter 5 Fugitive Democracy -
Chapter 6 Hobbes and the Epic Tradition of Political Theory -
Chapter 7 Hobbes and the Culture of Despotism -
Chapter 8 On Reading Marx Politically -
Chapter 9 Max Weber -
Chapter 10 Reason in Exile -
Chapter 11 Hannah Arendt -
Chapter 12 Hannah Arendt and the Ordinance of Time -
Chapter 13 The Liberal/Democratic Divide -
Chapter 14 On the Theory and Practice of Power -
Chapter 15 Democracy in the Discourse of Postmodernism -
Chapter 16 Postmodern Politics and the Absence of Myth -
Chapter 17 The Destructive Sixties and Postmodern Conservatism -
Chapter 18 From Progress to Modernization -
Chapter 19 Editorial -
Chapter 20 What Revolutionary Action Means Today -
Chapter 21 The People’s Two Bodies -
Chapter 22 The New Public Philosophy -
Chapter 23 Democracy, Difference, and Re-Cognition -
Chapter 24 Constitutional Order, Revolutionary Violence, and Modern Power -
Chapter 25 Agitated Times - Sources
- Index
Norm and Form
Norm and Form
The Constitutionalizing of Democracy
- Chapter:
- (p.77) Chapter 4 Norm and Form
- Source:
- Fugitive Democracy
- Author(s):
Sheldon S. Wolin
, Nicholas Xenos- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
This chapter considers the political uses of “democracy” in relation to two diametrically opposed notions that symbolize two equally opposed states of affairs. One is the settled structure of politics and governmental authority typically called a constitution, and the other is the unsettling political movement typically called revolution. Constitution signifies the suppression of revolution, while revolution signifies the destruction of constitution. The two notions, though opposed, are connected by democracy. The English revolution of 1688, the American one of 1776, and the French of 1789 are generally considered major milestones on the road to modern democracy. The first two have long been interpreted as culminating in constitutional settlements that, in effect, justified and fulfilled the prior revolutions. In contrast, the French continue to look back on their revolutionary past with far more ambivalence than either the British or Americans.
Keywords: democracy, constitution, revolution, political theory
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- Title Pages
- Foreword
- Editor’s Introduction
-
Chapter 1 Political Theory as a Vocation -
Chapter 2 Political Theory -
Chapter 3 Transgression, Equality, and Voice -
Chapter 4 Norm and Form -
Chapter 5 Fugitive Democracy -
Chapter 6 Hobbes and the Epic Tradition of Political Theory -
Chapter 7 Hobbes and the Culture of Despotism -
Chapter 8 On Reading Marx Politically -
Chapter 9 Max Weber -
Chapter 10 Reason in Exile -
Chapter 11 Hannah Arendt -
Chapter 12 Hannah Arendt and the Ordinance of Time -
Chapter 13 The Liberal/Democratic Divide -
Chapter 14 On the Theory and Practice of Power -
Chapter 15 Democracy in the Discourse of Postmodernism -
Chapter 16 Postmodern Politics and the Absence of Myth -
Chapter 17 The Destructive Sixties and Postmodern Conservatism -
Chapter 18 From Progress to Modernization -
Chapter 19 Editorial -
Chapter 20 What Revolutionary Action Means Today -
Chapter 21 The People’s Two Bodies -
Chapter 22 The New Public Philosophy -
Chapter 23 Democracy, Difference, and Re-Cognition -
Chapter 24 Constitutional Order, Revolutionary Violence, and Modern Power -
Chapter 25 Agitated Times - Sources
- Index
