La democràcia dels idiotes

This paper summarises a contribution to a panel at the Catalan Summer University (UCE 2025) examining the relationship between the rise of the far-right, language policy, and democratic governance in contemporary Spain, using the Alicante city council's declaration promoting 'Castilianisation' of the city as an example. The paper argues that the far-right's attack on linguistic diversity represents a broader strategy of cultural warfare aimed at imposing homogeneous national identity through the negation of minorities.Drawing on Elinor Ostrom's framework of public goods, the paper critiques Catalonia's language policies that have treated Catalan as a 'public good', arguing this approach may have inadvertently weakened the language's social vitality. Instead, the paper proposes conceptualising minority languages as 'common goods' requiring active community participation and multilevel governance for sustainability.While acknowledging the relevance of post-democracy theories from Rancière, Crouch, and Habermas in other contexts, the paper contends that the Spanish case cas be best described as a democracy with an oligarchic matrix. Through historical analysis of Spain's political transition, particularly the roles of figures like Torcuato Fernández-Miranda and external actors such as Henry Kissinger, the paper shows how the transition established enduring connections between political power and corporate/financial elites.The paper concludes that Spain's democratic system, characterised by privileging private elite interests within public spaces without adequate accountability mechanisms, constitutes what can be labelled as a 'democracy of idiots'—drawing on the original Greek meaning of 'idiōtēs' as someone concerned primarily with private rather than public interests. This analysis, in sum, challenges conventional post-democracy frameworks and offers a historically grounded critique of Spanish democratic governance.