A DEMOCRACIA NO ESTADO LAICO E A LIBERDADE RELIGIOSA EM JEAN- JACQUES ROUSSEAU

Abstract

The theme of our monographic investigation revolves around the issue of democracy in the secular state and religious freedom in Jean-Jacques Rousseau, as this is an author who focused on the theory of the “social contract”, with the objective of defending a regime based on participatory democracy in small-sized States, ensuring the exercise of citizenship, promoting equality and freedom among men. The eloquent form and the original way in which he expressed his ideas, have given rise, over time, to different interpretations, sometimes antagonistic to each other, which makes his work a valuable instrument by all those who reflected on the theme. Hence the relevance of approaching the timeless thought of an author of the French Enlightenment, in an attempt to clarify a theme as old as man – the conceptualization of democracy –, which is flourishing and controversial in contemporary society. As Rousseau states, there never was, nor will there be true democracy, what exists is a relentless search for the best possible regime that does not restrict the human rights present in the state of nature. Furthermore, the models of democracies, developed in Ancient Greece, mainly in Athens, during the government of Pericles, re-elected fifteen times, between the years 443-429 before the advent of Christianity, considered direct democracy. The democracy that emerges in modern times, especially in Europe, from Rousseau (1712-1778) and in the North American Federative Republic, under the influence of Maddison (1751-1836), is defined as indirect democracy, taking as an element The delegation of power from citizens to elected officials is essential, configuring itself as a representative democracy. Conceptualizing and analyzing the structure of freedoms proposed by liberalism, ensuring citizens' individual rights and guarantees. Our specific objectives are: a) to examine the structure of democracy developed in Jean-Jaques- Rousseau and its influence on the contribution to a model of secular state and religious freedom.