The “lack” of the state or its “excess” – challenges and threats of modern democracy

Abstract

The changes taking place in the modern world, their character and dynamics determine the need to verify the role and tasks of the most important institution of political life, in particular the state. However, the multitude of positions in this regard, from extremely libertarian, aimed at eliminating the state as an organization using coercion, promoting “philosophy of strength” instead of “philosophy of freedom”, to voices demanding “strengthening” the state - a guarantor of security (on various levels: military, economic , social, social, cultural etc.), especially in the face of challenges such as migration crisis or modern terrorism. The dilemma of limiting the state or strengthening it, which has always been present in political discourse, deepens the crisis of values and the difficulty in defining concepts of fundamental importance, including democracy itself. Question asked by Chantal Delsol What do we care about? it seems so current in the face of many contemporary paradoxes.