The ideology of Neo-liberalism was inspired by theorists that believed in the
second, spectator form of democracy. We will look at the ‘progressive
democratic’ views that inspired the pursuit of a new liberalism. These progressive
views were first expressed by Walter Lippmann, who found problems with the
‘general will’ as a driving force within democracy. Rousseau’s general will was
the belief that a nation should follow the interests of society as a whole, with all
citizens having the right to contribute equally to the states formation and
organisation (Robespierre, 1850). Lippmann’s problem with this idea was that
“the common interests elude public opinion entirely” (Chomsky, 2003, p.15),
going on to say that these interests can only be understood by a “specialised class
of responsible men”. Lippmann’s theory affirms that only a small elite, or what
the Deweyites called an ‘intellectual community’ (Dewey, 1927, p.21), can
dictate societies path. Lippmann stresses that the rest of society, those not in this
elite, decision making class, should be viewed as the ‘bewildered herd’
(Lippmann, 2015). With the ruling class needing protection from the potential
“trampling and roar of a bewildered herd” (Lippmann, 2015, Chomsky, 2003).
This belief that it is necessary to prevent democracy from becoming too
democratic was a “substantial part of contemporary political science” in the 1920s
& 30s (Chomsky, 2003, p.20).
“Imagine if the people of the Soviet Union had never head of communism. The
ideology that dominates our lives has, for most of us, no name” (Monbiot, 2016,
Joseph Noott Ideological Wars Dr Demetris Tillyris
p1). To explore the way in which the ‘nameless’ ideology of neoliberalism,
effects democracy, the three stage process promulgated by Centento (2011) will
be followed. The majority of this essay concerns itself with the ‘policy debate’ or
first stage, which will be followed by evidence supporting the assertion made by
the latter stages, that this Neo-liberal ideology went from strength to strength to
become a hegemonic, globally followed model. This essay hopes that upon
inspecting these stages, and their ideological inspirations, it will become clear
that democracy is incompatible with the economic-political theories of Neoliberalism.
