Political Narcissism and Democratic Deliberation

Posted: 29 Sep 2015

Date Written: September 23, 2015

Abstract

Deliberative theorists maintain that genuine dialogue is premised on the mutual respect of participants. Yet a great deal of what passes for civic discourse, even in mature democracies, takes place among political actors who avowedly do not respect one another – so much so that their identities are often constituted in opposition to each other. This paper contends that the construction of such identities is a symptom of political narcissism, and presents a serious obstacle to deliberative aspirations. In an effort to address the problem of political narcissism, it turns to psychoanalysis and particularly to the so-called ‘self psychology’ of Heinz Kohut, who brought narcissistic personality disorders into the mainstream of psychoanalytic theory. Analogizing political narcissism to narcissistic disturbances at the level of the individual psyche, the paper argues that marginalized political groups do not receive adequate ‘mirroring’ from their counterparts in a welcoming democratic process; as a result, their identities often harden and take on a grandiose character. Following Kohut’s approach to the treatment of narcissistic issues, the paper endorses a mode of empathy and interpretation in order to soften the oppositional character of some identities, stabilize their self-understanding, and foster the mutual respect necessary to deliberation. Against Iris Marion Young and others who regard empathy as a dangerous or futile enterprise, it argues that empathy is precisely what is needed to lift once-marginalized groups out of a preoccupation with group identity and enable them to feel (and to be) welcomed into the broader discourse.

Keywords: deliberation, democratic theory, psychoanalysis, narcissism, dialogue, Kohut

Suggested Citation

Mercado, Raymond, Political Narcissism and Democratic Deliberation (September 23, 2015). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2664847 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2664847

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