Political Philosophy: Lefort's View on Democracy and Monarchy

This essay explores Claude Lefort's understanding of the formal distinction between monarchy (or the "ancient regime") and democracy. Lefort, a prominent French philosopher, differentiates between these governmental systems, emphasizing the concept of democracy as institutional conflict within society, recognizing the legitimate existence of divergent interests. The essay highlights Lefort's critique of monarchical power, advocating for power to be vested in the majority through elected representatives. It contrasts the monarchical system, where power is concentrated in the king, with the democratic ideal of distributed power. The concept of "the locus of power becomes an empty place" is analyzed, signifying the common people's perceived control over their lives, which is fundamental to democracy. Lefort's views on the nature and character of power and his support for the separation of power are also discussed, along with the implications of his ideas on modern democracy, including his stance on totalitarianism. The essay concludes by acknowledging certain complexities within his theory while emphasizing the impact of his ideas on modern democratic thought.

Running head: POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
The Question of democracy
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Q. How does Lefort understand the formal distinction between monarchy (what he
sometimes calls the “ancient regime”) and democracy?
A. Claude Lefort, a renowned philosopher of France was inspired by Cornelius
Castoriadis and organised a communist conference in Paris in the year 1943. He was a
professor of University at Sao Paulo and had introduced the theory of Totalitarian Enterprise
(Lefort, 1988). He had made a difference in between the various stages of government and
power. He has differentiated in between the democracy and monarchy. His theory of
democracy is based on the concept of totalitarian and he has maintained the analysing process
of USSR. He has characterised the concept of democracy as institutional conflict of the
society and his concept of democracy has recognised the legitimate existence of divergent
interest (Gashkov & Rubtsova, 2017). According to Lefort, the power should not be confined
in any specific individual, but it should be regularised and the people should get the option to
elect their representative who will regulate the law for the interest of public. The concept of
democracy has been introduced by this idea. He had raised his voice against the monarchical
power and was of the view that the power should be confined in the hands of the majority.
According to Dominique Colas, “power comes from the people and belongs to no one."
Lefort has considered democracy as beginning of a new era and accept modern as well as
representative democracy but did not support the limited scope of democracy (Howard,
2016).
He had pointed out certain characteristics of monarchy too and according to him, in
the monarchical system, power has been confined in the hand of the king. Here the term
power does not denote unlimited power. King was a mediator between God and mortals and
work for the sovereignty of justice. The power of the king is unconditional and the people
have no right to interfere in the power of the monarchy (Lefort, 2016).

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These statements made both the term different from their eternal meaning and
power. In a democratic society, there is always a claim to understand the organisational law
and development has been made and power does not limited in one’s hand. However, in
monarchical system, there is no concept of distribution of power. King holds the supreme
power. This theory of democracy has helped to identify the modern feature and concept of
democracy.
The concept of “the locus of power becomes an empty place” and its implication:
The term locus of power means psychological criteria that have been built in the
mind of common people and they thought they have control over the events related to their
life. This is a fundamental theory of democracy as the theory of democracy is based on the
concept of power of the common people where the people will choose the members who will
represent their necessities and legal protection (Breaugh et al., 2015). Lefort did not stated
about the institution of power; he had support the nature and character of power. According
to his view, if the power has been institutionalised, it will prevent the government to apply
the power appropriately. Considering the nature of the monarchical power, he has stated that
the locus of power becomes an empty place as people have no control over the power.
Through his concept of democracy he has symbolises the impact of power in the society
(Näsström, 2015).
The concept of Lefort has certain implications on the modern democracy. The
doctrine of separation of power was an essential character of democracy and according to
Lefort, power should not be confined in the hand of an individual (Lefort, 1988). People
should get the right to choose representative in order to secure them from any situation.
Lefort did not support the concept of institution; according to him, the power should be free
in nature.

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However, there are certain complexities in his theory. He has not clarified his
statement on totalitarianism. He was against the confinement of power, but had not
mentioned any specific types of democracy. However, the concept of modern democracy has
been come from his idea and he has supported the idea of separation of power.

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Reference:
Breaugh, M., Holman, C., Magnusson, R., Mazzocchi, P., & Penner, D. (Eds.).
(2015). Thinking Radical Democracy: The Return to Politics in Post-war France.
University of Toronto Press.
Gashkov, S., & Rubtsova, M. V. (2017). Cornelius Castoriadis and Claude Lefort about the
Soviet Union Manageability: Political and Educational Dilemmas of the Left
wing. Dilemas Contemporáneos: Educación, Política y Valores, 4(2).
Howard, D. (2016). Claude Lefort: Elements for a Political Biography. In Between Politics
and Antipolitics (pp. 191-201). Palgrave Macmillan, New York.
Lefort, C. (1988). Democracy and political theory. Polity Press.
Lefort, C. (2016). ECONOMICS, CULTURE, AND THE POLITICAL. Politics and the
Concept of the Political: The Political Imagination, 187.
Näsström, S. (2015). Democratic representation beyond election. Constellations, 22(1), 1-12.