PHILOSOPHICAL AND PRACTICAL MANIFESTATIONS OF DEMOCRACY AND DEMOCRATISM IN SOCIETY

This article examines the philosophical and practical manifestations of democracy and democratism as socio-political and kratological phenomena that shape state and societal governance. It explores democracy and democratism as interrelated yet distinct categories — democracy as an ideal of social progress and democratism as its practical realization through institutions, processes, and social consciousness. The paper provides an in-depth philosophical interpretation of the term “phenomenon,” referencing classical thinkers such as Kant, Hegel, and Husserl, and applies this notion to the modern understanding of democratic development. The study analyzes the liberal-democratic concept as a dominant paradigm of modern governance and reviews its ideological foundations as developed by Western philosophers including Hobbes, Locke, Montesquieu, Kant, Hegel, Hayek, and Popper. Attention is given to the contradictions of Western liberal democracy in the post-Soviet and global context, as reflected in the works of Uzbek scholars B. Umarov and B.A. Talapov. The article concludes that while democratism as a method and instrument can be adapted or manipulated, the democratic ideal remains immutable as a guiding principle of human freedom, social equality, and just governance. Democracy, therefore, persists as both a philosophical ideal and a practical objective in the moral and political consciousness of humankind. Keywords: Democracy; Democratism; Phenomenology; Liberal democracy; Kratology; Political philosophy; Social justice; State governance; Human freedom; Democratic development.