Enchanted democracy: Religion and democratic thought in nineteenth-century Latin America

Abstract

This article recovers an overlooked strand of nineteenth-century Latin American political thought that I call, “enchanted democracy.” It is epitomized in the work of the Chilean radical democrat, Francisco Bilbao (1823–1865). Deployed in the generation after the Spanish American Wars of Independence, “enchanted democracy” was a postcolonial democratic theory that aimed to justify mass expansion of suffrage, direct democracy, and social equality. This political vision was inescapably theological. Bilbao relied upon scripture, the lives of saints, and sacraments to justify political inclusion, construct a theory of democratic solidarity, and to motivate affection and sacrificial love among citizens. By using theological concepts and popular religious expression to build a future politics, I argue that “enchanted democracy” broadens theoretical approaches to the relationship between religion and democracy. This article also signals the importance of Latin American political thought for contemporary democratic theory.