Although liberal democracy has established itself as the norm in the Western world, its model is deteriorating. In France, the growing abstention from elections and the rise of the far right reflect a profound crisis of political legitimacy.
In France, the growing abstention from elections and the rise of the far right reflect a profound crisis of political legitimacy. Voting is no longer sufficient to embody popular sovereignty, and the alternation between rival camps no longer conceals the loss of representation's true meaning.The persistent conflation of democracy with elections plunges us into a perilous predicament: the choice between a system that increasingly betrays its democratic promises each day, and an authoritarian alternative that would curtail our fundamental freedoms.
It has become necessary to reaffirm that the alternative is not authority, but rather a true democracy based on direct participation and the empowerment of citizens. This article proposes a new democratic system, based on practical experiments conducted in around 100 French municipalities, where residents have regained control over the decisions that affect them.
