Pluralism, Democracy and Constitutional Politics: A Schmittian Analysis
Candan Turkkan

Abstract
Can a country that is so polarized in two fundamental issues – ethno-national and religious identity – be reconciled? Is there a way to get passed the polarization and to constitute a functioning, democratic political unity? Or, given that democracy is sustained by the homogeneity of identity of the ruler and the ruled, will political unity be always exclusionary? More precisely, is democracy inherently incapable of sustaining pluralism? Theoretical and practical concern of this paper lay exactly here. Through a Schmittian analysis of democracy, rule of law and constitutions, the paper discusses institutional components of the current liberal, parliamentarian, constitutional democracies with the aim of finding a politically uniting factor for different identities. In juxtaposition with the theoretical discussions, Turkey is referred as a case-study.

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