Beyond the Boundary Problem: Thinking the People at Their Own Boundaries

• In Event: Poster Session: Current Studies of LGBT Politics & Normative Political Theory
  In Poster Session: Poster Session: Normative Political Theory

Abstract

This paper addresses political theorists interested in the "boundary problem". The boundary problem highlights the paradoxes of grounding public authority in "the people" given this leaves open the question of who the people are who would act as the source of that authority. Democratic theorists concerned about the legitimacy deficit this presents to democratic politics have debated various criteria for deciding who the people are, such as a legitimated electorate, or a subject bound by shared interests or history. In this paper I argue that the boundary problem articulates a deeper quandary than one that can be resolved with recourse to normative criteria, namely: modern democratic politics is awash with various claims to speak in the people's name and articulate its voice. Rather than seeing this as simply marking an always possible crisis point for democratic politics, I argue that these manifold claims to claim the mantle of the people can augment democratic politics by helping citizens to judge the relationship between popular power and political rule. Most obviously, claims that the people "are really on the streets" signals the inefficacy of legitimated forms of popular expression (public opinion, polls, voting) and returns democratic citizens to the question of the proper location or articulation of popular voice.

Author

• Luke Sandle, University of Alberta