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Question 2

Kant on direct democracy

Answer 2

Kant opposed direct democracy, believing that majority rule posed a threat to individual liberty. He stated that “democracy in the strict sense of the word is necessarily a despotism because it establishes an executive power in which all decide for and, if need be, against one (who thus does not agree), so that all, who are nevertheless not all, decide; and this is a contradiction of the general will with itself and with freedom.”