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Capitalism and Democracy: Complementarity, Complicity, Conflict, Compatibility

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Capitalism, Democracy, Socialism: Critical Debates

Part of the book series: Philosophy and Politics - Critical Explorations ((PPCE,volume 22))

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Abstract

In this chapter I review four ways of theorizing the relationship between capitalism and democracy. Classical liberalism has long maintained that capitalism and democracy are complementary—that both mutually reinforce the same demand for freedom or, at the very least, that the freedom democracy requires fits best with a competitive market system. Orthodox Marxists, meanwhile, often held that liberal democracy as a political system is complicit in the maintenance of capitalist domination. Still others have characterized the relationship between capitalism and democracy as one of fundamental conflict, with capitalists fearing takeover by democracy and democrats fearing takeover by capitalism. Finally, there are those who strive to make capitalism and democracy compatible, for example by de-commodifying democratic citizenship or re-politicizing capitalist institutions. In the course of reviewing these perspectives, I will argue that how one conceptualizes the relationship between capitalism and democracy varies greatly with how one defines these two terms, the normative value one places on each, the level of precision one brings to the analysis, and the social ontology one adopts.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    I am grateful to Albena Azmanova for pointing this out to me.

  2. 2.

    I am grateful to Rainer Forst for stressing to me this point.

  3. 3.

    I am grateful to James Chamberlain for urging me to clarify this point.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Politics and Public Administration, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland

    Brian Milstein

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  1. Brian Milstein
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Brussels School of International Studies, University of Kent, Brussels, Belgium

    Albena Azmanova

  2. Department of Political Science and Public Administration, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS, USA

    James Chamberlain

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Milstein, B. (2022). Capitalism and Democracy: Complementarity, Complicity, Conflict, Compatibility. In: Azmanova, A., Chamberlain, J. (eds) Capitalism, Democracy, Socialism: Critical Debates. Philosophy and Politics - Critical Explorations, vol 22. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-08407-2_2

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