THE CHALLENGES OF CONTEMPORARY DEMOCRACIES

between consensus and dissent – a contemporary debate

Abstract

The text hereby presented has as its main theme the approach of the theme of contemporary democracies from two fundamental interpretive biases, a saber, the thinking of Chantal Mouffe and Jürgen Habermas. Each one points out his arguments about the world of politics through paradigms of understanding that, at certain moments, get closer and, at others, move away. Habermas defends the rescue of Enlightenment rationalism to show that the democracies of our time must be seen as a result of consensual communicative ethics given a legal system coined in solidarity. Mouffe, for his part, approaches that it is necessary to defend agonist principles of political action that aim, not only the conquest of a consensus given rationally but mainly the ritualization of dissent as a driving force for multi-polarization of the consequences and debates on democracies. Today's life, in the face of this dualism between the two authors, is thus vibrant, multifaceted, and manifestly conflicting. It is true that, during the presentation of this text, the position most favorable to Mouffe's thought will be presented, however, this does not imply a total exclusion of Habermas' thought. It is true that, for our work, Mouffe's ideas stand out more and more precisely, yet it is important to emphasize that Habermas' thinking is of fundamental importance for the establishment of a profound and profound dialogue on the theme of democracies. In this struggle, our text proposed a reflection on contemporary democratic dilemmas.