POSTMODERNISTS, PRAGMATISTS AND THE JUSTIFICATION OF DEMOCRACY

According to current wisdom, we have entered a new 'age of democracy'. The new global popularity of the democratic ideal appears likely to pose new challenges to democratic theory, adding yet more formulations and nuances to existing categories. Just as some key questions about democracy - such as 'why is it a good (or the best) political system?' and 'precisely what does it demand of us, and owe to us, as citizens?' - become daily more urgent, some worry about the resources of political theory to cope with them, given the apparent shift towards scepticism and a suspicion of large-scale, encompassing claims about politics. This article focuses on four arguments from postmodernist and pragmatist writers who have given democracy a prominent part in their work. It asks whether the writers examined provide convincing justifications for the democratic ideal.