The council system as Arendt's alternatiuve proposal to the exclusivity of representation

Abstract

This text examines Hannah Arendt’s reflections on modern democracy, with special attention to the proposal of councils as an alternative to the exclusivity of the party system. Although Arendt rarely uses the term democracy, her analysis of modern revolutions reveals a concern with the loss of public freedom and effective citizen participation in politics. The author highlights that the representative system, by concentrating power in the hands of elected officials, empties the public space and reduces politics to administration. In contrast, councils emerge as spontaneous historical experiences that express the desire for direct and plural participation in the public sphere. However, we will seek to show that Arendt does not propose the pure replacement of the current system, but rather its complement with arrangements that keep the revolutionary spirit alive. Her proposal points to a reconfiguration of politics, in which public freedom and citizen participation are central, and where the council system offers a possible way to truly democratize the public space.