Open Access”Hvoraf kommer det, at vi alle ere saa demokratiske som vi ere?” - Demokratisk-monarkiske bondevenner i den danske grundlovskamp
Author(s) -
Anne Engelst Nørgaard
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
slagmark
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1904-8602
pISSN - 0108-8084
DOI - 10.7146/sl.v0i69.104323
Subject(s) - rhetoric , peasant , democracy , sovereignty , political science , battle , politics , agency (philosophy) , law , sociology , philosophy , social science , history , theology , archaeology
The article studies the rhetoric of ’Bondevennernes Selskab’, an organized peasant movement, in the constitutional battle of 1848-49. Through an analysis of speeches held on the constitutional assembly by members of the peasant movement, the article concludes that the movement’s call for democracy was supported with a rhetoric that used the absolutist king as a legitimizing figure. Through the principle of popular sovereignty, the concept of democracy was connected to the concept of ‘people’ and ideas of a strong monarch. This rhetoric was used to legitimize the status of the peasant movement as speaking on behalf of the people and in claiming political agency for the peasantry.