Fantasy and Invention

Author: Translated by: Qi Runchang et al / Country: France/French
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2001-05-01
Features: Realists have reaffirmed the doctrines of decision theory and acknowledged the prospects it entails. This prospect refers to statesmen as the sole authorized representatives of the state, capable of acting independently. In the specific historical context of World War II and the early Cold War, this idea, which was extremely popular among realists, must have been easily understandable. We can see this clearly through just two quotes from the late 1950s that reflect realist sentiments. The first is a quote by Louis Halle on politicians: "As agents—limited to officials—there is no freedom to handle state affairs solely according to their subjective consciousness." The second is a more concise quote by Kenneth Thompson: "Politicians should follow the quiet path of responsible officials (those who place the safety of the people they represent at the forefront in decision-making)." These examples prove that in the Anglo-Saxon tradition of good democracy, realists clearly incorporated the representative role of statesmen into the Schmittian exception status. However, according to the paradigm vigorously advocated by some proponents, statesmen can only embody the indivisible will of the state. The individualism in radical methodology cannot uphold its epistemological commitments, because all the propositions it puts forward are always grounded in the basic form: individual i completes an action k in a situation j. The extreme intent embodied in this extremely simple example can only be explained by the desire to abandon all forms of ethnocentrism in sociology, to abandon Marxist agitation, and so on. The premise of Karl Popper's extreme liberal program is that the selection of highly rational actors considers only their personal interests. An "open" society is linked to this radical individualism. Conversely, a "closed" society is consistent with the subordination of individual will to collective constraints. However, if servitude and authoritarianism are the plight of closed societies, then chaos and "fear of freedom" may well be the prospects of various open societies. The fundamental political problem seems to be the relationship between the individual, the state, and democracy. Democracy, whether in its direct form of representation or participation, is the prototype of political relations composed of individuals, presupposing an entity that can be large or small. It is from here that the government of the city-state or the state arises. Through democracy, despite changes in electorates, the individual—the citizen—the voter becomes the sole source of legitimate power. The state in the West is a miraculous and unimaginable invention. It is this very invention that guarantees the autonomy of private enterprise and ensures that the common society produces what it needs through spontaneous regulation.