从古典民主到大众民主——兼评理查德·伯拉米的《重新思考自由主义》

From Classical Democracy to Populist Democracy --With Critical Review of Richard Bellamys Rethinking Liberalism

古典民主与现代民主既有联系又有差别,古典民主的一个基本前提是参与者具有同质性,因而其对参与者有严格的限制,选举是一种社会精英的“公平”游戏。由于当代社会的复杂性与多元化,大众的广泛参与使现代民主已经不具有古典民主的同质性,所以大众选举更多地具有做秀等机会主义性质,这是当代资本主义政治的主要特征之一。如何跨越精英民主阶段进入大众民主阶段,是发展中国家政治发展所面临的一项艰巨的任务。

Classical democracy has some connections as well as differences with modern populist democracy, its basic character being the homogeneity of the participants. Therefore, there are tight restrictions on who can participate and election is a ' fair' play of the elite of the society. For the complexity and pluralistic nature of modern society, the participation of the populace has deprived modern democracy of the homogeneity in classic democracy. Modern election is more like a political show. This is one of the main characteristics of contemporary capitalist politics. The making of a transition from elite democracy to populist democracy is an arduous task for the political development of developing countries.