Civil society, welfare state, market mechanism. On forgotten role of democracy

Authors:

• Przemysław Zbigniew Rotengruber

Abstract

From time immemorial the left wing politicians and social scientists critically disposed towards the Enlightenment ideal of democracy focus their attention on these dysfunctions of public life which put it into question. A special place in the critique occupies the problem of free market economy treated as the sphere (partially) excluded from control exercised by the civil society. The power of money and the democratic decision-making process are in permanent clash. The effect of this discrepancy is distorted picture of political life. Public opinion in democratic state is no longer able to defend its political autonomy. Meanwhile, there is forgotten solution. The liberal theory from its 18^th century beginnings put stress to fundamental ability of market participants to estimate properly value of different goods (offered by the market). If the market is taken as the mechanism of parallel promotion and distribution of political products, then “political consumers” can no longer be treated as helpless actors. It`s just the opposite way. Since they are able to distinguish better political proposal from the worse ones, they can play active part in political life.