The crisis of representation: the limits of liberal democracy in the global era

In liberal thought, democracy is guaranteed by the unity of community and g overnment. The community of citizens elects its government according to pol itical preferences. The government rules over the community with powers whi ch are limited by unalienable human, civil, and political rights. These ass umptions have characterized Classical Liberalism, Revisionist Liberalism an d contemporary Neo-liberal theories. However, the assumed unity of communit y and government becomes problematic in Global Post-Fordism. Recent researc h on the globalization of the economy and society has underscored the incre asing inability of nation-states to exercise power over their communities w hich, in turn, limits the ability of communities to express their will at t he nation-state level. The current phase of capitalism is characterized by socio-economic relations which transcend the jurisdictions of nation-states and local spaces. This paper addresses the issue of the fracture of the un ity of community and government by introducing feature characteristics of C lassical Liberalism, Revisionist Liberalism and Neo-liberalism. Moreover, i t analyzes the contribution of the theory of Reflexive Modernization which represents a novel attempt to rethink democracy within the liberal traditio n. The paper concludes that the inability of governments to control economi c and non-economic environments creates a crisis of representation which im plies serious limits to liberal democracy. This situation is particularly i mportant for rural regions as their socio-economic development, and program s for its democratization have been historically based on the intervention of agencies of and control by the nation-state. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science L td. All rights reserved.