Política y poder a la luz de la contraposición de Weber y Arendt

Abstract

In the current situation of disappointment and discontent regarding what we today understand as politics, especially because of the way in which our representative democracies function, and because of the lack, or in some cases, lessening of space for citizen action, it is not surprising that Arendt's work would become a point of reference. The German thinker that defined politics as a space for appearance was opposed to the Weberian view that centralized power in an institution, the State, which is defined as the possessor of the monopoly of legitimate force. Confronted by this vision in which the weight of politics resides in one of the branches of constituted power, and in which politics and the exercise of violence are identified, Arendt proposes a new understanding of politics that emphasizes the constitutent power (concerted action) and separates power and violence in order to make a place for the appearance of the citizenry in the debate and in the making of decisions regarding what is held in common.