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Single Idea 20086

[filed under theme 24. Political Theory / B. Nature of a State / 2. State Legitimacy / a. Sovereignty ]

Full Idea

In the twenty-first century, sovereignty, once the basis of the nation state, has become a relative concept. ...Powerlessness is the key word of our time.

Gist of Idea

Nowadays sovereignty (once the basis of a state) has become relative

Source

David van Reybrouck (Against Elections [2013], 1 'Crisis')

Book Ref

Reybrouck,David van: 'Against Elections', ed/tr. Waters,Liz [Bodley Head 2016], p.12


A Reaction

The point is that nation states now have limited power, in the face of larger unions, multinational companies, and global problems.


The 10 ideas from David van Reybrouck

Nowadays sovereignty (once the basis of a state) has become relative [Reybrouck]
Democracy is the best compromise between legitimacy and efficiency [Reybrouck]
Technocrats may be efficient, but they lose legitimacy as soon as they do unpopular things [Reybrouck]
Today it seems almost impossible to learn the will of the people [Reybrouck]
There are no united monolothic 'peoples', and no 'national gut feelings' [Reybrouck]
Technocrats are expert managers, who replace politicians, and can be long-term and unpopular [Reybrouck]
In the 18th century democratic lots lost out to elections, that gave us a non-hereditary aristocracy [Reybrouck]
Representative elections were developed in order to avoid democracy [Reybrouck]
You don't really govern people if you don't involve them [Reybrouck]
A referendum result arises largely from ignorance [Reybrouck]