Self-Limitation and Democracy [F]or the impulse of mere appetite is slavery, while obedience to a self-prescribed law is liberty. 4
— Jean-Jacques Rousseau
The philosopher Cornelius Castoriadis has often been credited with saying that “democracy is the regime of self-limitation.”5 But since for him the only true democratic form is direct democracy, this claim might seem a bit odd. Direct democracy has come to be conceived by many, including several critics, as a regime that disconnects society from laws and regulations, resulting in its depolitization and degradation. This concept has understandably raised concerns about what would be the outcomes of the more excessive actions of the masses. The essence of direct democracy however, as presented by Castoriadis, differs considerably from such chaotic and nihilistic logics. For him, the primary meaning of the term democracy is political, being before all a regime in which all citizens are capable of 4 Jean-Jacques Rousseau: The Social Contract (Ware: Wordsworth Editions, 1998), 20. 5 Marco Deriu: Democracies with a future: Degrowth and the democratic tradition (in Futures vol.44 issue 6, 2012), 556 23
