CULTURAL DIVERSITY, INSTITUTIONAL RIVALRY, AND DEMOCRACY

Authors : Mustafa ERDOĞAN

Pages : 153-164

View : 19 | Download : 14

Publication Date : 1997-07-01

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :The main concern in this article is to study the question of democracy in contemporany multicultural societies from a libertarian perspective, which is one of the leading debates of recent political theory. In this context, I do consider the relevant concepts such as "cultural diversity", ''pluralism' 5 and "multiculturalism" and œy fo evaluate the compatibility of the ideals enshrined in these concepts with a libertarian and democratic socio-political project. One aspect of this article is to discuss the value of the ideas of institutional rivalry and federalism with regard to search for any democratic solution of contemporary multicultural societies, Indeed, my basic argument is that for today's liberal democracies in which different ethnic, religious and cultural identities, several ideoloöcal groups and communities together by "perverse" sexual choices are living side by side, a libertarian project able to accommodate a peaceful coexistence is the "competitive federalism" model based on rivalry between cultural, social and political institutions.
Keywords : communitarianism, competitive federatism, democracy, institutional livafry mutticutturalism, multicultural society, pluralism ethical, toleration