Just Democracy. A Radical Assessment.

This paper is a tentative assessment of the Rawls-Machiavelli program by Philippe Van Paris, who proposes that justice is the main goal of political action (in a Rawlsian perspective) and democracy is only instrumental (the Machiavellian part of the program). The paper adresses three questions to the proposal of Philippe Van Paris : 1) Can democracy be properly defined without a condition of public debate ? 2) Don't "realistic politics" underestimate the margin of possibility we have to change "what people are" and 3) If people overemphasize that part of their interests which is linked to their ethno-national belonging, is it not because alternative political offer is not differentiated enough ?