In the King's Shadow: The Political Anatomy of Democratic Representation

Im Schatten des Königs Die politische Anatomie demokratischer Repräsentation

Translated from the English version by A. Yakovlev. – Moscow: Gaidar Institute Press, 2014. – 176 p. 

ISBN 978-5-93255-396-1 

The book is devoted to understanding the transition from monarchical rule to democracy. The image of the “people” (or “nation”) as the sole political figure, nurtured by democracy, is no less a phantom than the medieval image of the “king’s double body”, but its acceptance and consolidation with the help of repeated stage demonstrations (regular “elections”) leads to the fact that it is viewed as a self-evident part of the practice of democratic rule and serves as the basis for the legitimization of power. The modern form of government with its inherent attributes of a national leader and parliament as a “puppet with the help of which the people are depicted” is the afterlife of an absolute monarchy, the features of which have been preserved in the historical memory of society. 

For specialists – historians, political scientists and philosophers – interested in modern trends in the theory of democracy and the history of political thought.