Sublime

And the existence of political debate, however factitious, is necessary to the smooth functioning of the media—and, perhaps also, to keep people feeling that they live, at least technically, in a democracy.

La démocratie a besoin non seulement d’un parlement représentatif issu d’élections, non seulement d’une séparation entre pouvoir exécutif, pouvoir législatif et pouvoir judiciaire, mais aussi d’une pluralité de conceptions et d’opinions antagonistes dans l’arène politique, de liberté de la presse, de médias et d’opinion, de respect des droits indiv

There are many viable definitions for that word, but I’m referring to a very specific person here: An expert is someone whose thinking is regularly sought and paid for. That’s different from your father-in-law who opines about everything, without invitation, as if he has a prepared speech, and every pause in what has been to that point a conversati

L’opération essentielle conduite ici par les antipopulistes consiste à identifier la défense du peuple et de son pouvoir aux extrêmes du spectre politique – extrême droite et gauche démocratique confondues – et à délégitimer de ce fait tout programme de démocratisation.

The then chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, T. Anjiah, was apparently reprimanded by Rajiv Gandhi, the Congress general secretary, at the Begumpet Airport in Hyderabad.3 Capitalizing on the state’s wounded Telugu pride (atma gouravam), NTR launched his political party, aiming for the highest seat in office.

No-holds-barred public debate is the most reliable process for attaining such knowledge, since other processes—accepting another’s authority, following emotions, agreeing with the most attractive advertising, acting on gut-instincts—are not directed toward knowledge and reach it only by accident. The higher the level of public debate—that is, the c