Conclusion

Abstract

The final chapter of the book takes stock, and asks what light it can shed on the present crisis of democracy: What can one see or do with this new conceptualization of democracy as spirit that one could not see or do before? Conversely, what issues have been framed out of vision? The chapter goes through the major findings in the shift from sovereignty to spirit, with a specific focus on how it reorients the discussion on populism, elitism, and the resurgence of authoritarianism. It also touches upon three major issues that fall beyond the scope of the book, namely how the spirit of democracy relates to the state, the nation, and the market respectively.