Examine the extent to which Nietzsche’s ideas provide a coherent alternative to liberal democracy.

The work of Friedrich Nietzsche offers a very different form political philosophy from those works that liberal democracies worldwide have built themselves around. It is perhaps this alternative view of the world that has lead to such a great interest in his works. A closer review of the practical nature of the ideas put forward however may suggest that the ideas may not be able to form a coherent alternative to liberal democracy.

It can be argued that the main ideas on which liberal democracy are based are the notion of a social contract, a belief in progress, the faith placed in material wealth, human rights, equality and of course a belief in democracy (Owen 1995 p5). At some stage during his writings Nietzche attacked all of these aspects. Nietzsche sights that the whole political process is just a mask to cover the will of political leaders to gain power for themselves thus making Liberal Democracy a sham.

The main focus of Nietzsche’s political writing is on the idea that politics is simply a way for people to exercise power over others (Clark 2000 p139). For Nietzsche all human activity is used to provide people with the feeling of power, for example the gaining of knowledge is only done in order to feel that you have more knowledge than others thus you feel more powerful than them (Kaufmann 1968 p181). It is hear that the true nature of politics is found, it is not, as those in liberal democracies would have you believe, in seeking the best for society but in gaining power for yourself. It is this honesty in how politics is conducted that can draw comparisons with Machiavelli’s The Prince in which the keeping of power is seen as the underlying factor in all of politics. As Machiavelli is sighted as an influence on many western politicians and Nietzsche states that this is already the major factor in politics, it could be seen that Nietzsche’s are just an uncovering of liberal democracy and do not provide an alternative. However, whilst it does not apply to all politicians there can be seen as some form of altruism in the political process as many people can campaign for issues that may remove some power from themselves (Nietzsche may argue that this may be in order to make themselves feel gratitude from the people that they have helped thus feeling power over them) suggesting that not everyone in politics is just interested in power. Nietzsche’s idea of allowing people to see politics as just a struggle for power may be a very healthy alternative to Liberal democracy as people would no longer feel lied to or disillusioned by the political process if they knew the reasons for politicians actions.

Perhaps the most famous aspect of Nietzsche’s work is the idea of the Übermensche. Here Nietzsche outlines what he axiom as the people that lead people, he saw the Übermensche (supermen) as people who could achieve the highest goals they set for themselves and were therefore the best people to lead a society (Kaufmann 1968 p307-310). This concept is not new, it is similar in ways to the philosopher kings in Plato’s ‘The Republic’ and Kaufmann notes is based on Byron’s Manfred (1968 p308). This is where Nietzsche’s attack on the state starts as he sees it as limiting ...