La democrazia fa eccezione? Forme di esclusione e garanzie giuridiche

The concept of exception remains elusive. Nor did Carl Schmitt, its main theorist, manage to offer an unambiguous characterization – possibly on purpose. This short contribution makes the claim that what differentiates democracy from despotism is not the former’s (hardly unlimited) possibilities of inclusion. Rather, it is the forms and methods of exclusion. By the same token, democracy should stay alert to its own tendency to identify (often create) internal enemies that democratic institutions believe they are authorised to fend off with undemocratic means.