Political Representation in Hegel’s Philosophy of the State

Abstract

This article argues that Hegel introduces the concept of political representation to avoid as far as possible the contrast between the subjective and objective forms of freedom in a modern state. First, it examines the intimate connection between capitalist dynamics and the production of the rabble as well as the emergence of the institutional framework that is necessary to contain, redirect or prevent this development. Second, it exposes the Hegelian criticisms of the liberal system of political representation. Third, the organic model of political representation is presented as a counterproposal by Hegel to the liberal system. Fourth, it details the young Marx’s criticisms of the state bureaucracy as an adequate political instrument to regulate the social whole. Finally, based on the distinction between two divergent perspectives present in Hegel’s proposal, it seeks to delimit the scope of his proposal about the political representation of the most relevant social interests.