Post #2644385

[T]he modern conflation of elections with #democracy contributes not only to #plutocracy but also to the drift toward authoritarianism. The danger lies not simply in the plutocratic proclivities of electoral processes or the occasional production of dangerous leaders,but in the way that their misidentification as the embodiment of popular sovereignty enables potential demagogues—often themselves plutocrats—to claim that they uniquely represent the authentic “will of the people.” This grants them an unfounded right to rule that becomes difficult to challenge and undermines popular government itself. Once elections are taken as the democratic tool par excellence, a leader can invoke electoral victory to justify any course of action by insisting: “The people have spoken!” – Natasha Piano interviewed by Matias X. Gonzalez for Democracy and Government under Elitism: An Interview with Natasha Piano https://www.jhiblog.org/2026/05/13/democracy-and-government-under-elitism-an-interview-with-natasha-piano/ #election #electoralism #fascism #politics #PoliticalTheory