A critical-contextual approach to the decline of democracy in the neoliberal era

Abstract

EThis article proposes a critical-contextual interpretation to explain the decline of democracy in the neoliberal era. To that aim the main premises of the liberal and post-Marxist theories of democracy are first reviewed and discussed. Secondly, a substantive concept of democracy is built by combining the central elements of liberal pluralism and agonist pluralism (political equality, political pluralism and accountability). Finally, using this concept as a framework for analysis, two contextual dimensions are established that affect democracy as a political system: dominant culture (ideology) and social structure (inequality). From this theoretical framework, it is established that democracy, as a system that articulates political life, is dysfunctional to a society with a neoliberal ideology. This conclusion is based on three elements that distort democracy in practice: a) neoliberal freedom, which leads to a more elitist decision-making process; b) neoliberal State, which disassociates the debate on the economic system from the political and social spheres; and c) neoliberal economy, which increases inequality and makes individuals with less material resources to exclude themselves from the political system.