In the ECPR essay "Democracy may mean multiple things, but that should not stop us recasting our stumbling democratic politics", Michael Saward states the following:
"The question ‘what is democracy?’ carries a lot of baggage. What does asking it imply? There are two main possibilities here.
First, the question implies that democracy has a meaning (and has a meaning). It must mean something, and probably (or ideally?) one thing. Less directly, it implies that we need this definition – the phenomenon is important or valuable. Otherwise, why even ask the question? I think it also implies that there’s someone who can or should do this job, e.g., a theorist of democracy. Meanings and models will be few, if not singular.
The second possibility is that the question points to something like: what has democracy meant, and what might it mean? It implies that it is important for us to know what people have made of democracy – or what they have made and could make with it. It may well mean some things, plural. And lots of different people and groups may have answers to offer. Meanings will be multiple, possibly incommensurable, as will any models built on them."
For more, see: https://theloop.ecpr.eu/democracy-may-mean-multiple-things-but-that-should-not-stop-us-recasting-our-stumbling-democratic-politics/
What else do you think could be added to Saward's list of possibles when someone asks "What is democracy?". For my part, I think that such a question could be invoked by a person who is against any idea of democracy. That person asks "what is democracy?" to begin a delegitimisation exercise.
What do you think? What might you add?
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