Bezpieczeństwo i stabilność demokracji w kontekście nowolewicowych koncepcji Ernesto Laclaua i Chantal Mouffe

The article presents the main ideas of Ernesto Laclau’s and Chantal Mouffe’s theory of discourse and theory of radical democracy and analyses their potential influence on the condition of the democratic system. These theories criticize the idea and cur-rent practice of liberal democracy which is the main political system of the western modern world. Mouffe and Laclau consider democratic politics as being in a deep crisis and in need of a reform. According to their New Left approach the renewal of democracy should bring the reestablishment of the communication between people and political elites and the appreciation of real ideological conflict that liberal democracy attempts to abolish in favour of consensual politics. However, the New Leftist approach, by itself, seems to generate many threats to the democracy and pluralism including the threat of a far-reaching consolidation of hegemony (hegemonization).