ACHIEVING POLITICAL UNITY IN A MODERN PLURAL SOCIETY

Moderne države pokazuju pluralizam etičkih, religioznih i filozofskih uvjerenja koja dovode u pitanje mogućnost jake identifikacije građana s političkom zajednicom. Upravo zbog ovih centrifugalnih tendencija, kao i raspada tradicionalnih sveza, moderne političke zajednice trebaju više solidarnosti kako bi mogle efikasno rješavati kompleksne probleme modernoga društva. Stalno raste teret političkog odlučivanja u modernim društvima, a istodobno se smanjuje njegov prostor s obzirom na tendenciju diferenciranja i izdvajanja adminstrativne i ekonomske sfere moći iz dispozicije politike. Postavlja se pitanje: Kako moderna društva mogu savladati ove izazove tako da povežu toleranciju i solidarnost, demokraciju i socijalnu kompleksnost? Kakve su kulturne pretpostavke i kakva institucionalna pravila nužna da bi se ovladalo ovim teškoćama? Kako je moguće u takvoj situaciji stvoriti političko jedinstvo i zadobiti legitimaciju djelovanja koja je nužna za normalno funkcioniranje političke zajednice? Na ovaj proces pluralizma modernih društava Rawls je dao odgovor i ponudio stanovita rješenja, koja autor prikazuje na sljedeći način: najprije prikazuje promjene Rawlsove pozicije koje nastupaju nakon Teorije pravednosti (1), zatim upozorava na neke motive kritika koje su ga potaknule na ovu promjenu (2), analizira koncepciju pravednosti kao pravičnosti (fairness) s obzirom na činjenicu pluralizma (3) te na kraju izlaže Rawlsove pojmove kojima se ostvaruju političko jedinstvo i legitimnost (4).Modern states display a pluralism of ethical, religious and philosophical convictions that brings into question the possibility of a strong identification of citizens with the political community. Due to these centrifugal tendencies, as well as to the disintegration of the traditional ties, modern political communities need more solidarity in order to be able to efficiently solve the complex problems of modern society. The burden of political decision-making in modern societies is constantly growing, while its space is at the same time getting more confined due to the tendency of differentiation and separation of the administrative and economic sphere of power from the disposition of politics. The question is: how can modern societies surmount these challenges by linking tolerance and solidarity, democracy and social complexity? Which are the cultural prerequisites for this and which institutional rules are necessary to overcome these difficulties? How is it possible in such a situation to achieve political unity and ensure the legitimation of activities necessary for a normal functioning of a political community? Here, the author outlines Rawls’ answer regarding the pluralism of modern societies and the solutions he offered. First, he focuses on the changes in Rawls’ original position that occurred after his book A Theory of Justice (1), then he highlights several motifs contained in the criticisms that prompted Rawls to change his original position (2), he analyses the concept of justice as fairness from the point of view of pluralism (3), and finally, he outlines Rawls’ concepts that are, according to him, conducive to political unity and legitimacy (4)