From the countermajoritarian objection to the paradox of the demos. The right to decide according to Josep Maria Vilajosana

Abstract

In this article, the author critically examines Josep Maria Vilajosana’s piece «Democracy and the Right to Decide», published in this journal’s previous issue. More generally, this article explores the reasons in favor of secession as to applied to Catalonia and other contemporary democracies. The central thesis of this article holds that the right to decide, as understood by Vilajosana and part of the Catalan secessionist movement, is conceptually confusing, that the grounds put forward by its defenders, including Vilajosana, cannot sustain it properly, and its exercise would lead to undesirable consequences.