Abstract

The point of departure of this article is the distinction established by Giuseppe Duso between governo and potere , between the old politics focused on the forms of government and the modern politics based on sovereignty and legitimate representation. Contemporary liberal democracies fundamentally coincide with semiotic representation, which, if we agree with Ackerman, makes its first major appearance with the North American Federalists. However, we consider that authentic democracy is that which is rarer, to be found beyond government and power, where the nobodies, those who do not need any titles in order to participate in the public sphere, question –as Rancière explains– the continuity between the natural or social order and the constitutional or political order