The Crisis of Liberal Democracy vs. Political Knowledge

Abstract

It is a widely held view that liberal democracy is in a serious crisis. In seeking its sources, three layers can be distinguished: economic, political and cultural. It must be pointed out that, in the public debate, the diagnosis of the crisis of liberal democracy is not followed by any proposals of how it should be overcome. Therefore, it is forgotten that for liberal democracy to function properly, the citizen with political competence is necessary. It is only a committed citizen who is able to overcome crises occurring in liberal democracy by making use of political knowledge, acting in line with political principles and developing the culture of social trust in liberal and democratic terms. Citizen political competence, as the foundation of civil attitudes supporting democracy and respecting its principles, is one of three pillars of its consolidation and, thus, it can become an instrument for combatting the crisis of liberal democracy. What is important, while recognizing the equality of the political components of citizen competence, special attention should be paid to the level of citizens’ political knowledge because it is this level that determines their other elements.