Abstract
This article examines the political thought of C. B. Macpherson and highlights its value in the current era in which democracy is under siege. It focuses on Macpherson’s signal concept of possessive individualism, and explores the trajectory of his treatment of liberal democracy over time to show his continuing relevance for democratic theory and practice. Both dimensions are linked to the historical vicissitudes and contradictions of liberalism. Macpherson’s accounts of democracy indicate parallels to the critical theory of the Frankfurt School by providing underappreciated insights into the relation of liberalism to authoritarianism and thereby suggest how his ideas contribute to the tasks of a critical political science and its appraisal of democracy’s prospects.
