This article points to the decisive influence of Machiavelli's work in building Claude Lefort's democratic theory. In particular, it notes how Lefort assimilates from Machiavelli a properly political conception of society, by identifying in the work of Machiavelli a notion of 'symbolic dimension of power.' According to this article, it is from this concept, which refers to the original division and the instituting moment of the social, that Machiavelli, even though he is not exactly a democratic author, would allow Lefort to reassess the question of democracy and the totalitarian phenomenon.
symbolic; power; political; democracy