JOÃO BORGE CHILELE SALIULO

This doctoral project, whose theoretical framework is the political philosophy of Alexis de Tocqueville and Hannah Arendt, aims to elucidate their understanding of the concept of democracy and political action and participation as a necessary condition of the public sphere, also covering the notions of political freedom and public opinion, judgment, phenomenology, revolution, religion and human rights, and points out the institutional paths that, in the view of both authors, can ensure collective action and the plurality of citizens' opinions. It also intends to show the strong confluences between Tocqueville's and Arendt's reflections on these issues and to verify the philosophical diligence in their efforts to recover the ideals of public spirit and participation in public life as remedies to combat the threats and attacks on democracy that have arisen in modernity.