2025 Theses Bachelor's

An Imperfect Union: The Incompatibility Between Democracy and a Homogeneous “People”

Muglia, Elena

This thesis critiques the liberal nationalist and communitarian conception of the demos as a culturally homogeneous and pre-political entity, arguing that such a view is incompatible with democratic theory. Focusing on the work of David Miller and Michael Walzer, it shows how these theorists link a static and unified demos to the functioning of democratic self-determination. I trace the origins of this view to 19th-century ethno-nationalism, demonstrating how importing the logic of the nation into democratic theory introduces hierarchical and exclusionary assumptions that conflict with democracy’s procedural and participatory foundations. When democracy is instrumentalized to preserve the cultural homogeneity of the demos, it fails to center and uphold individual political autonomy as its cardinal principle. In contrast, I argue for a dynamic and indeterminate conception of the demos—one constituted through participation in shared political institutions rather than through pre-political forms of unity. This reframing clarifies that the people can only be “united” through democratic procedures themselves. While this account does not solve the boundary problem, it exposes the anti-democratic implications of grounding membership in extra-democratic criteria and affirms that any legitimate conception of the demos must remain open, procedurally defined, and responsive to democratic participation.

Keywords: Political Theory, Democratic Theory, David Miller, Michael Walzer, The People, Nationalism