Hannah Arendt on Democracy

The thesis deals with the specific problem of Hannah Arendt's positive political project which has never been a central topic for her. She rather reflects political phenomenon from ancient Greek polis to modern times of mass society in the second half of the 20th Century. She assumes that one of the human conditions is acting - political activity. On the one hand, this activity needs a specific space for demonstrating itself. On the other hand, this activity presupposes the equality of acting people. However, these presuppositions have been disfigured during the growth of the society. This thesis examines the positive political project of Hannah Arendt which stands as a remedy of disfigured political space. We start with Arendt's theory of freedom and contrast it with Isaiah Berlin's theory. Then we describe the concept of acting and explain why has been disfigured during modernity. Finally, we show why we can call Arendt's positive political project or regime as a democratic one. We identify two moments (moment of deliberation and moment of participation) which are essential for understanding Arendt's political project. Then we deal with the problem of elites which is explicitly in her thoughts. But we show an interpretation which is based on J. C. Isaac article that real political space for..