| Concurrently with the liberal type of democracythere emerged from the same premises in the eighteenth century a trend towards what we propose to call the totalitarian type of democracy. These two currents have existed side by side ever since the eighteenth century. The tension between them has constituted an important chapter in modern history, and has now become the most vital issue of our time. (...). The essential difference between the two schools of democratic thought as they have evolved is not, as is often alleged, in the affirmation of the value of liberty by one, and its denial by the other. It is in their different attitudes to politics. (...). Both schools affirm the supreme value of liberty. But whereas one finds the essence of freedom in spontaneity and the absence of coercion, the other believes it to be realized only in the pursuit and attainment of an absolute collective purpose |
| Talmon, J.L. |
| The origins of totalitarian democracy |
| 1961 , p. 1 |
Quotations
Cubeddu on democracy "Democracy consists not so much in an unreal government by the people, nor in the possibility of choosing one's government élite, but rather in political recognition of the subjectivity of choices". Cubeddu, R. , 1993, The philosophy of the Austrian school (Routledge, London), p.x
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