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Article One Title: Democracy vs Liberty in Annelien De Dijn’s Freedom: An Unruly History

by Author, June 22, 2020

Michael Hoffman example post .... It is nearly always productive to explore the tension between democracy and liberty, as this is not a tension that any society resolves on a lasting basis. Resolutions are by nature temporary and tenuous—immediately reviled, vigorously renegotiated, and, sometimes, productively reformed. That is why Annelien De Dijn’s Freedom: An Unruly History (hereafter Freedom) is a welcome contribution to this ongoing exploration. De Dijn identifies important shifts in the dominant conceptions of freedom over time, how the pendulum has swung between a fundamentally democratic conception of freedom and a freedom more associated with personal autonomy and non-interference. These conceptions of freedom entail very distinct visions of government: on the one hand, a free society where the government is responsive to citizen majorities; on the other, a free society forming a limited government to keep individuals secure in their lives and property. De Dijn is clear about where she believes the pendulum has been stuck and why it needs to swing back toward identifying freedom primarily with democratic decision-making. Unfortunately, in an effort to portray these concepts as ruthless antagonists, Freedom misses an opportunity to engage with the complex interdependence of liberty and democracy.