This volume re-examines popular sovereignty, a vital principle of modern politics jeopardized by deepening polarization and the global rise of authoritarian populism. Eighteen cutting-edge contributions from scholars and practitioners engage with the dilemmas of popular sovereignty through interdisciplinary approaches and perspectives.
In recent decades, popular sovereignty has come under increasing pressure. The rise of populism, often illiberal or authoritarian, has undermined minority rights, individual autonomy, and rule of law. The expansion of international institutions and greater reliance on market and non-governmental organizations have gradually insulated large areas of policymaking from public control. In turn, these developments cast doubt on the viability and desirability of liberal democracy itself. When the People Rule argues that comprehending and responding to the political crises of our time requires a radical refocusing on popular sovereignty. Each chapter offers a fresh perspective and opens new avenues of inquiry into popular sovereignty, advancing debate over the very heart of this principle - what it means for the people to rule. Thorough and timely, this volume is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.
Arvustused
''We, the People' are the beginning words of the American Constitution, perhaps 'the' founding document of popular sovereignty. Yet who are the People, and who decides who they are, and how? Such questions imply contested notions of identity, belonging, representation and agency. The excellent contributions to this timely volume do not shy away from controversy when pointing to the many challenges autocratic tendencies and nationalisms pose to the liberal order. The book is a 'must-read' for students of democracy and the future of liberalism.' Helmut K. Anheier, Hertie School 'This wide-ranging and timely volume argues persuasively that popular sovereignty is an essential concept for understanding political life. Drawing on an impressive variety of scholarly perspectives, the contributors show how popular sovereignty is an indispensable framework not only for analyzing the origins and evolution of modern democracies and their troubled present, but also for imagining their futures.' Ran Halévi, Gallimard 'When the People Rule is a refreshingly wide ranging, historically rich and conceptually sophisticated set of essays that illuminate the theory and practice of popular sovereignty. Its star cast of theorists and historians rescues the idea of self-rule from the condescension of those who regard it as an empty place holder or a purely formal concept. Instead, it focuses on how political sovereignty is made to work in different contexts through constant innovation and the actual labor of politics. Its essays shed light on many old puzzles in political theory. At the same time, it powerfully illuminates contemporary political debates over democracy and populism.' Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Princeton University and Center for Policy Research Delhi 'Who are The People? Should they rule? Can they? Do they? How? These are among the oldest and deepest questions in political theory. The answers offered by the erudite and provocative essays in this stellar collection set the terms for debating the most pressing issues facing democracy today.' Josiah Ober, Stanford University
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This volume reinvigorates the study of popular sovereignty in theory and practice, illuminating the meaning and future of liberal democracy.
Introduction Ewa Atanassow, Thomas Bartscherer and David Bateman; Part I.
1. Plato and the problems of modern politics Thomas Bartscherer;
2. The sovereign and the tyrant: boundaries and violation in oedipus Elizabeth K. Markovits;
3. The fact of fiction: Popular sovereignty as belief and reality Ioannis D. Evrigenis;
4. Thomas hobbes and the making of popular sovereignty Richard Boyd;
5. Popular sovereignty on trial: Tocqueville vs Schmitt Ewa Atanassow; Part II.
6. 'As god rules the universe': reflections on the people and the state in early America Ira Katznelson;
7. The sovereign people and the liberal democratic state David A. Bateman;
8. Three vignettes: popular sovereignty in French history Daniella Sarnoff;
9. The founding of India and popular sovereignty Ornit Shani;
10. The 'other' boundary problem: fictions of popular sovereignty at the state's edge Matthew Longo;
11. The #BlackLivesMatter movement and black public opinion: a new populist divide in the black community? Alvin B. Tillery;
12. Popular sovereignty and recognition H. Abbie Erler;
13. Populism, popular sovereignty, and periphery Julia R. Azari and Alexis Nemecek; Part III.
14. The place of constitutional courts in regimes embracing popular sovereignty: recent problems in American Self-Governance Carol Nackenoff;
15. Popular sovereignty, populism, and stories of peoplehood Rogers M. Smith;
16. Popular Sovereignty in the Trump Era: a case study of pedagogy and practice Nicole Mellow and Andrew J. Perrin;
17. The voices of the people Adam Davis.
Ewa Atanassow is Professor of Political Thought at Bard College, Berlin. She is the author of Tocqueville's Dilemmas, and Ours: Sovereignty, Nationalism, Globalization (2022). Thomas Bartscherer is the Peter Sourian Senior Lecturer in the Humanities at Bard College. He is co-editor of the critical edition of Hannah Arendt's The Life of the Mind, Switching Codes: Thinking Through Digital Technology in the Humanities and Arts and Erotikon: Essay on Eros, Ancient and Modern. David A. Bateman is Associate Professor in Government and the Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy at Cornell University. He is the author Disenfranchising Democracy (2018) and co-author of Southern Nations (2018).
