Mesocracy

Description

From the Wikipedia's profile of Julien Freund:

"Freund was a support of limited democracy and that growing democratisation increases the reach of government, allowing it to become ever more invasive. Politics, Freund believed, cannot solve any cultural problems or impose social values upon society, and it should not be involved in religious affairs. Equally, religion also cannot impose upon the principles of democracy. Freund's work also drew attention to the corruption of language and its misuse in democracy: "La démocratie se décompose quand elle dilapide la sincérité en démagogie et en flatterie" - "Democracy breaks down when it squanders sincerity in demagoguery and flattery."

His idea of "mesocracy" was first used in 1978, against the overuse and overreach of democracy. Mesocracy from its Greek roots, is a form of power that exists in tandem with other 'counter powers'. Rather than speaking of a singular, abstract “freedom”, Freund preferred to refer to specific freedoms, freedom of the press, of association, of conscience etc. Without such concrete freedoms, Freund argued, we will never have freedom in the singular."

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julien_Freund)

More information

• La démocratie et ses dégénérations, Julien Freund dans Spécial démocratie.

• LA MÉSOCRATIE : CRITÈRES Montréal No 22, 1978 p. 31-46.