Derrida, Democracy and Public Choice Theory

Democracy is generally assumed to be a good thing, in education as elsewhere, but careful definitions of the term are not common. Yet, the role that education plays in ‘democracy’ must depend largely on the understanding of what democracy is. Since neo-liberal theories are currently dominant in politics and education it seems useful to examine such theories in relation to this question. In this paper the ‘public choice’ understanding of the term is contrasted with Jacques Derrida’s careful deconstruction and reconstruction of ‘democracy’ in the book The Politics of Friendship.