Rupture between the people and the political elites who represent them. The debate on the crisis of representative democracy is invited to each election in France. Including the 2022 legislative elections, the second round of which is being held this Sunday. Questions about the ethics of political personnel and their professionalization under the Fifth Republic, elected officials whose way of life and concerns are considered too far removed from those of the population…
What are the springs of the crisis of political representation? To talk about it in the podcast ” Wait a minute ! » Helene L’Heuillet, philosopher, psychoanalyst, lecturer in philosophy at the University of Paris-Sorbonne. A speaker who mentioned the crisis of exemplarity in a previous episode of our podcast.
Distance, a dislocation of the link with the people?
A politician, a fortiori a president, can she be “normal”? No, emphasizes Hélène L’Heuillet. “Representation implies that we are not identical. […] When you exercise a public function, you wear a kind of mask. And it is in private that we drop the mask, ”notes the philosopher. “The politician should not be the projection of our fantasy. What he is in private, it does not concern us, as long as he does his job well, ”adds Hélène L’Heuillet.
The desire for direct intervention, facilitated by digital means, seems to abolish distances while representation implies a form of distance, underlines the philosopher, for whom the crisis of political representation is “necessarily a crisis of respect”.
Listen to the rest of the interview with Hélène L’Heuillet by clicking in the player above. Wait a minute ! is the news podcast of 20 minutes. You can listen to it on all online listening apps and platformsas apple podcast, Spotify, Deezer Where podcast addict for example. To write to us: [email protected]