Kelsen’s Realistic Theory of Modern Democracy

Abstract

Hans Kelsen and his work are sometimes associated with a sort of idealist way of conceiving politics and with a general indifference toward the issue of values. The objective of this essay is instead to address his democratic theory – as it was developed between the 1920s and 1950s – by identifying the realistic elements of his reflection and thus showing how such elements are functional to developing a procedural view of democracy with a real value content.