Demophobia in modern democracy

Abstract

This article aims to demonstrate the existence of demophobic principles in the theory of modern democracy. Liberal theoretical propositions decreed the subsumption of the demos in the government of all, reduction of the presence of the masses in politics, the exteriority of their modes of organization, and rationalization of administration of "the many". The study focuses on liberal thinkers from the late 18th to the early 20th centuries, but is not limited to them. The result is the enunciation of a political oxymoron (demophobic democracy), which also appears as an epistemological obstacle to democratic experimentation.