Výskum demokracie v postpozitivistickej vede. O metodologických otázkach teórií demokracie/Democracy research in post-positivist science. On methodological issues in theories of democracy

The paper presents several remarks on the theoretical-philosophical context on which the research of democracy is based in post-positivits science. It deals with democracy as a phenomenon formed by cognitive processes through language that becomes the subject of scientific research for the purpose of knowledge systematization. The linguistic turn helps us to grasp the knowledge of democracy as historically limited and trapped in the discourses of the time. It is therefore crucial to understand that we can only approach democracy through the ideas that people have created in a given historical period. At the same time, we will look at theories of democracy as part of social science theories. The paper elaborates on Karl Popper’s critique of methodological naturalism and historicism which is applied to theories of democracy, and shows how this perspective can be useful for democracy research.