The Myth of the Universal Citizen or How Liberalism Is Devouring Democracy

Abstract

This paper analyzes the fundamental tension between liberal universalism and democratic substance through the lens of Carl Schmitt’s political theory. Starting from Schmitt’s thesis that equating all human beings simply as human beings negates the very essence of democracy, the text deconstructs the contemporary civic model not as a space of freedom, but as a deliberate project of depoliticization and the disempowerment of the people. The paper examines Schmitt’s argument that liberal humanism, by denying national identity, ultimately undermines democracy itself. The author contends that, under the guise of universal rights, an ideological pacification of peoples is carried out in order to make them more easily governable. Such a model does not bring peace; rather, it establishes a form of moral totalitarianism that transforms political opponents into enemies of humanity. National homogeneity is affirmed as a necessary safeguard of democracy against the erasure of a community’s right to determine its own destiny.