Capitalism and Democracy: Complementarity, Complicity, Conflict, Compatibility

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

In this chapter I review four ways of theorizing the relationship between capitalism and democracy. Classical liberalism has long maintained that capitalism and democracy are complementary—that both mutually reinforce the same demand for freedom or, at the very least, that the freedom democracy requires fits best with a competitive market system. Orthodox Marxists, meanwhile, often held that liberal democracy as a political system is complicit in the maintenance of capitalist domination. Still others have characterized the relationship between capitalism and democracy as one of fundamental conflict, with capitalists fearing takeover by democracy and democrats fearing takeover by capitalism. Finally, there are those who strive to make capitalism and democracy compatible, for example by de-commodifying democratic citizenship or re-politicizing capitalist institutions. In the course of reviewing these perspectives, I will argue that how one conceptualizes the relationship between capitalism and democracy varies greatly with how one defines these two terms, the normative value one places on each, the level of precision one brings to the analysis, and the social ontology one adopts.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationPhilosophy and Politics - Critical Explorations
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media B.V.
Pages9-33
Number of pages25
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

Publication series

NamePhilosophy and Politics - Critical Explorations
Volume22
ISSN (Print)2352-8370
ISSN (Electronic)2352-8389

Keywords

  • Capitalism
  • Democracy
  • Liberalism
  • Marxism
  • Social ontology

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