The Time of Popular Sovereignty: Process and the Democratic State

233 Pages·2011·1.458 MB·English

by  Paulina Ochoa Espejo

T HE
T IM E O F
P O P UL A R
S O V E R EI G N T Y
process and the
democratic state
PAULINA OCHOA ESPEJO
THE TIME OF POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY

PAULINA OCHOA ESPEJO
THE TIME OF
POPULAR SOVEREIGNTY
Process and the Democratic State
The Pennsylvania State University Press
University Park, Pennsylvania
Allforeign-languagetranslationsarebythe
authorunlessotherwiseindicated.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
OchoaEspejo,Paulina,1974–
Thetimeofpopularsovereignty:processandthe
democraticstate/PaulinaOchoaEspejo.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
Summary:‘‘Examinestheconceptofthepeopleandthe
problemsitraisesforliberaldemocratictheory,
constitutionaltheory,andcriticaltheory.Arguesthat
thepeopleshouldbeconceivednotassimplya
collectionofindividuals,butasanongoingprocess
unfoldingintime’’—Providedbypublisher.
isbn978-0-271-03796-7(cloth:alk.paper)
1. Constituentpower.
2. Sovereignty.
3. Democracy.
I.Title.
jc330.o28 2011
320.1(cid:2)5—dc22
2010044098
Copyright(cid:2)2011ThePennsylvaniaStateUniversity
Allrightsreserved
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
PublishedbyThePennsylvaniaStateUniversityPress,
UniversityPark,PA16802-1003
ItisthepolicyofThePennsylvaniaStateUniversityPress
touseacid-freepaper.Publicationsonuncoatedstock
satisfytheminimumrequirementsofAmericanNational
StandardforInformationSciences—PermanenceofPaper
forPrintedLibraryMaterial,ansiz39.48-1992.
ThisbookisprintedonNaturesNatural,which
contains50%post-consumerwaste.
TOTom

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction:TheTimeofthePeople 1
1 TheMobandthePeopleinMexico:AHistoricalExampleofthe
IndeterminacyofPopularUnification 16
2 AProbleminLiberalDemocraticTheory:TheIndeterminacyofPopular
Unification 27
3 MechanicalandTeleologicalConceptionsofthePeople 58
4 DynamicConstitutionalismandHistoricalTime 84
5 ThePeopleBetweenChangeandStability 113
6 CreativeFreedomandthePeopleasProcess 136
7 ADemocraticPeopleasProcess 170
Conclusion:RadicalRealism 196
Bibliography 202
Index 213

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Over the yearsI have received institutional support formy research from
El Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnolog´ıa (CONACYT), the Institute
of International Education, Johns Hopkins University, and the Erasmus
Institute at the University of Notre Dame. I am particularly grateful to
YaleUniversity’sDepartmentofPoliticalScienceforgrantingmeajunior
sabbaticalleave,andtotheDivisio´ndeEstudiosPol´ıticosoftheCentrode
Investigacio´n y Docencia Econo´micas (CIDE) for hosting me during the
2009–10 academic year. The book was published with the assistance of
theFrederickW.HillesPublicationFundofYaleUniversity.
I thank those who helped me finish this project. My first intellectual
debt is to my teachers at Johns Hopkins: Jane Bennett, Jennifer Culbert,
Dick Flathman, Mimi Keck, Hent de Vries, and especially Bill Connolly,
who helped me understand the relevance of the problem at hand and
encouragedmetodealwithitcreatively.Ialsothankthosefellowstudents
andfriendswhocommentedonspecificpartsofthemanuscript:Riccardo
Pelizzo, Matt Scherer, Mina Suk, and particularly Lars Tønder. They,
together with all the other members of the political theory community at
Hopkins, have been a constant source of intellectual stimulation over the
years.
AtNotreDameIhadmuchhelpandencouragementfromthe2005–6
fellowsattheErasmusInstitute,andparticularlyfromtheinstitute’sdirec-
tor, Robert Sullivan, and from the Department of Political Science, Fred
Dallmayr,CatherineZuckert,MichaelZuckert,VittorioHoesle,andespe-
cially Ruth Abbey.At Yale, I thank my colleaguesBruce Ackerman, Seyla
Benhabib, Bryan Garsten, Stathis Kalyvas, Karuna Mantena, Andrew
March, Ian Shapiro, Steven Smith, Sue Stokes, and Libby Wood. I also
thankthestudentsinagraduateseminaron‘‘ThePeople’’fortheirreflec-
tionsandcriticalcommentsonsomeoftheideasthatIdevelophere,and
Tom Donahue for giving me permission to use parts of our cowritten
paper‘‘WhatIsaPeople?’’