Abstract

I criticize the liberal foundations of democracy on two counts: the impossible defense of a "neutral" model of the state; and the individualist foundation of its moral and political philosophy. I suggest as well that political liberalism reduces the emancipatory chances of the democratic project by pursuing the goal of Hobbes. Leviathan-that is, by seeking to establish a well-ordered society that endorses an overlapping consensus favoring the ruling classes. The guiding dictum of the "demoliberal" theory seems to be-to paraphrase Adam Smith and Hegel-the invisible hand which regulates the market is the cunning reason of democracy, or, the key of its governability. Are we approaching the end of history as longed for by Fukuyama? I will analyze the premises which sustain his thesis.