Introduction
Mass democracy promises rule by the people, but in practice, it offers only the opium of election Sunday. This article deconstructs the mechanisms that hand the reins to political parties, analyzing the thought of Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn and Alexis de Tocqueville. Readers will discover how systemic party logic, negative selection of personnel, and the illusion of equality lead to the tyranny of the majority and the degradation of state competence.
Kuehnelt-Leddihn: Systemic party logic destroys freedom
According to Kuehnelt-Leddihn, a party is an organism striving solely for victory and the neutralization of the enemy. This systemic logic ensures that the common good gives way to the interests of the campaign staff.
Egalitarianism vs. Positivism: The conflict between norms and the will of the majority
Political egalitarianism makes the majority the sovereign of norms, which promotes legal positivism. In this view, law is merely the result of procedure rather than alignment with higher moral values.
Freedom and Equality: An inevitable contradiction of terms
Classics point out that freedom and equality share a toxic relationship. Liberalism asks how to protect freedom, while democracy focuses on who should hold power, often at the expense of the individual.
Tocqueville: The tyranny of the majority destroys minorities
The tyranny of the majority is a social pressure that "crushes souls" and enforces conformity. The system does not need violence; the mechanism of exclusion and the stigmatization of nonconformists is enough.
Mass Democracy: The secular religion of modernity
Democracy functions as a substitute for religion. Its dogmas, such as the primacy of the majority, acquire a quasi-sacred status, requiring ritual loyalty to the ideology from its citizens.
Negative Selection: The mechanism of party advancement
In party systems, negative selection dominates. Ministerial portfolios go to "deserving" apparatchiks, where loyalty and popularity triumph over substantive competence.
Anti-pluralism: Apparent diversity stifles the pluralism of opinion
Beneath the facade of pluralism lies anti-pluralism—a drive to standardize citizens through the same institutions and procedures, effectively suppressing authentic individuality.
Egalitarianism: Mass rule degrades political competence
Egalitarianism equates knowledge with ignorance. This leads to a degradation of politics where everyone has the right to decide, but no one bears the obligation to understand the consequences.
Political Viability: The populist triumph over rationality
In campaigns, political viability wins over rationality. Difficult reforms are postponed until "after the election," which in practice means their permanent abandonment in favor of short-term gains.
The Welfare State: Dismantling the citizen's agency
The welfare state reduces the citizen to the role of a "domesticated animal." By promising security from the cradle to the grave, it strips away their independence and real freedom.
Arithmetic Injustice: The dictate of numbers over reason
Arithmetic injustice means that a majority can vote through any iniquity. In this logic, truth loses its meaning, and all that matters is the mandate derived from numbers.
Polish Political Culture: The triumph of Santa Claus parties
In Poland, "Santa Claus parties" dominate, buying votes with social promises. The emotional appeal of gifts from the state treasury always triumphs over fiscal responsibility.
Lack of Responsibility: The systemic impunity of politicians
Power in a democracy has no face. The lack of responsibility stems from the blurring of guilt within the "will of the majority," allowing politicians to manage debt and the nation's future with impunity.
Democracy: A system stable only in times of peace
Democracy is a fair-weather system. In the face of a real crisis—such as war or a pandemic—citizens quickly trade their freedom for the illusory promise of security.
Summary
In the face of eroding trust, can democracy move beyond term-limited promises and build a lasting foundation of responsibility? Or perhaps, in the pursuit of the utopia of equality, will we become the architects of our own enslavement, surrendering freedom for an illusory sense of security? The question remains: can we regain control over the machine we ourselves created?
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