Representación y popularidad: la soberanía y la cuestión de la democracia en el Leviatán de Hobbes

Starting from the idea that modern democracy is only possible in its representative aspect, without this degenerating the principle of popular government, the concept of political representation becomes key to understanding political modernity. In this sense, Pitkin points out that the approach to this notion faces a problem based on the political thought of Hobbes, who –despite establishing the distinctions between author and actor– incurs the difficult postulation of absolute sovereignty that would make the idea of representation itself disappear. Beyond the usual characterization of Hobbesian thought as antidemocratic, the proposal of this text is to trace the use of the concept of democracy in Leviathan, thinking of it as one of the possible forms of government that absolute sovereignty can assume. On the one hand, the risks of the notions of ambition and popularity of subjects are investigated, as a key concern of Hobbesian objections to democracy. On the other hand, distinguishing the concept of Hobbesian authorization from the idea of “representation” of the interests of the people as a mission of the sovereign, the question of representativeness is raised as a key element of the stability of the political order. Finally, the relevance of Hobbesian concerns to present-day democratic processes is explored.