Kants Theorie der Demokratie

Contemporary readers have largely interpreted Kantʼs political philosophy as a piece of classical liberalism, challenging earlier receptions, which straightforwardly emphasized its legacy with the French revolution and stressed the revolutionary potential of Kantʼs republicanism. Discussing Kantʼs political writings analytically, this paper aims to reshape in positive terms his dealings with (modern) democracy. It defends the thesis according to which the philosopher, as it appears in the essay Toward Perpetual Peace, claims for a democratic version of republicanism. Nonetheless, Kantʼs ʻideal theoryʼ of politics and the state, by which a just order would be established, harshly criticizes the ʻancientʼ concept of democracy as it merely identifies a form of despotism. Thus, Kantian democratic reform of republicanism illuminates his normative project, which merging liberalism and democracy favors the promotion of the rights of men, universal citizenship as well as individual liberty.