Solidarity as Form of Governing

It seems to be clear, that the only form of governing is the action undertaken by a democratic government in a democratic polity—and as clear as it comes across, it is meaningless as it employs different concepts of which the definition does not allow a concise understanding of the subject matter, leaving us at the end of the day being lost in a net of tautological references and reflexivity. One of the core problems is seen in the de-substantialisation of government, resulting in uncontrollable action by individuals as much as it is reduced on ‘legitimation by procedure’ (Luhmann). The attempt of the present contribution is to find ways of extrapolation of residuals and germs of social action that present some new forms of democratic government. Important is to highlight (a) that this does not equal concepts of governance as they are frequently discussed and are in particular en vogue since the European Commission’s ‘Forward Studies Unit’ in the late 1980s/near end 1990s, and (b) that any governance concept can only be democratic if it complements other structural patterns, merging with them to a relational and processual conceptualisation of democracy.