| In his Philosophy of Right (1820) Hegel elaborates a political theory whose principles fit into the mold of liberalism and which, at the same time, represents a harsh rebuttal of democratic theory and practice. Hegel's repudiation of democratic principles, coupled with his acceptance of liberalism, makes him one of the leading apologists of a political posture that has not received all the attention it deserves, viz. conservative liberalism. At present, when a leading current in Hegelian politico-philosophical interpretations, accurately identified as the Hegelsche Mitte, seeks to integrate Hegel to the modern democratic tradition, it becomes an important task to stress his refusal to accept the democratic ideals. His Philosophy of Right, where one can see how his political theory culminates in an absolute monarch as the beginning and apex of the whole, is analyzed to demonstrate that liberalism, in the manner in which it is defined by Hegel, is not incompatible with anti-democratic, conservative views.;Hegel's grand State, the highest political institution in his system, has no other function than that of securing social integration. This is why the State should be regarded as a political solution to problems whose origin is to be found elsewhere, viz. in the sphere of social and economic interaction. If one disregards this crucial point, the State will appear as a set of recommendations of a vacuously formal nature.;The notion of civil society expresses Hegel's deep understanding of the mechanisms of modern market society. His political theory explores possible ways of moderating the particularistic and centrifugal forces generated within it, without altering them substantially. His task is facilitated by a 'form of universality' that he sees arising from within the forces of particularity themselves. This universality stands above the blind stubborness of individual self-seeking actions and produces a spontaneous order within the locus where those actions meet, viz. the market.;In order to demonstrate that Hegel's political theory makes liberal principles and a conservative application of those principles compatible, it is necessary to follow, as strictly as possible, the systematic development of the Philosophy of Right's internal argument. A study, then, of Hegel's State as a conservative institution should be preceded by a study of his theory of civil society. But just as the theory of the State is derived from principles internal to civil society, so the latter in turn must be presented as the necessary result of the abstract institutions that Hegel has been able to isolate earlier in his exposition. What is needed then, is a procedure that reconstructs the argument that gives structure and articulation to Hegel's whole political theory, following the path that he himself actually traverses.;Hegel's refusal to accept the democratic principle, which he sees expressed by Rousseau's notion of popular sovereignty and embodied in the political action of the Jacobins, is motivated by his belief that any advance in that direction would result in anarchy and revolutionary terror. Again, he sees these frightening consequences as a result of the disintegration and loss of cohesion of the possessing classes. This is the lesson to be learned from the Revolution in France. Insofar as those classes are able to maintain a degree of cohesion so as to offset the anarchical and 'particularistic' forces within market society, liberal governments will remain in power without having to yield to democratic pressures. |
