Democratizing Nietzsche

Abstract

Political scientists in the United States today are overwhelmingly—I am tempted to say, universally—democrats. There are of course conservatives, liberals, and radicals; utilitarians, neo-Kantians, and communitarians; defenders of the free market, of classical virtue, and of the oppressed. The list goes on. But to my knowledge, no one, including myself, seriously urges people to replace democratic government with some thoroughly undemocratic regime—with an aristocracy, for example, or theocracy, or monarchy. Scholars now consider any such position beyond the pale.