Reflections on Habermas on Democracy

Jürgen Habermas is a radical democrat. The source of that self‐designation is that his conception of democracy—what he calls “discursive democracy”—is founded on the ideal of “a self‐organizing community of free and equal citizens,” coordinating their collective affairs through their common reason. The author discusses three large challenges to this radical‐democratic ideal of collective self‐regulation: 1) What is the role of private autonomy in a radical‐democratic view? 2) What role does reason play in collective self‐regulation? 3) What relevance might a radical‐democratic outlook have for contemporary democracies? The author addresses these questions by considering Habermas' answers, and then presenting alternative responses to them. The alternatives are also radical‐democratic in inspiration, but they draw on a richer set of normative‐political ideas than Habermas wants to rely on, and are more ambitious in their hopes for democratic practice.