Does modern representative democracy really represent the interests of the population? Andreas Urs Sommer, professor of philosophy at the University of Freiburg im Breisgau, agrees with the prevailing view that the political elite and experts do not live up to this claim: Democracy is in serious crisis because people do not feel involved.
Therefore, he calls for direct democracy in referendums, as is the case in Switzerland. But can Switzerland serve as a model for large democracies, where educated elites often have the competence to recognize the common good? But in the summer there is no common interest that takes into account the diverse interests of the population. Even experts only represent the interests of their field. They don’t have a broad outlook, much less their experiences do justice to the diversity of people.
Nobody can do that, not even the politicians, who rather fear a supposedly uneducated population, who will only go after left or right demagogues. Only the Nazis did not come to power through referendums, but through representative elections, there were only two republic-wide referendums in the Weimar Republic.
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