Yet after two and a half centuries, one question remains as important as ever: what does freedom require from those who possess it?

Democracy is often understood through its institutions: elections, constitutions, courts, representative assemblies and the protection of individual rights. These foundations are essential. However, democratic societies also depend upon a less visible but equally important dimension: political culture. Democracies require citizens who recognise their responsibility for public life, participate in collective decision-making and accept that freedom exists alongside obligations towards others.

It is in this area that the philosophy of Jean-Paul Sartre remains relevant. Although Sartre did not develop a systematic theory of democracy comparable to thinkers such as Alexis de Tocqueville, John Rawls or Jürgen Habermas, his writings on freedom, responsibility, human relationships and collective action provide important insights into the conditions required for democratic life.

This article argues that Sartre’s concepts of mauvaise foi (“bad faith”) and L’enfer, c’est les autres (“Hell is other people”) illuminate two enduring challenges for democratic societies: the temptation to avoid responsibility for one’s choices and the difficulty of recognising others as legitimate participants in a shared political world.

Sartre’s contribution to democratic thought is therefore existential rather than institutional. He does not explain how democratic systems should be designed; rather, he examines the individual attitudes and responsibilities that allow democratic institutions to function.

Democracy and Political Culture: The Human Foundations of Freedom

Democracy has always depended upon more than political structures. Constitutions establish rights and procedures, but they cannot alone create the habits, values and forms of participation that sustain democratic life.

In Democracy in America (1835–1840), Alexis de Tocqueville examined the social conditions that allow democracy to flourish. He emphasised the importance of civic associations, local participation and democratic habits that encourage citizens to view themselves as active participants in public affairs.

In the twentieth century, Sartre approached a related question from a different perspective. While Tocqueville examined the social foundations of democratic life, Sartre examined the individual consciousness and sense of responsibility required to sustain freedom.

His question was philosophical but also political: do individuals recognise themselves as responsible actors, or do they attempt to escape the responsibility that freedom creates?

For Sartre, freedom was not simply a political right. It was a fundamental condition of human existence. In Existentialism Is a Humanism (1946), Sartre famously wrote that “man is condemned to be free,” expressing his argument that individuals cannot completely escape responsibility for the choices they make.

Freedom, in Sartre’s understanding, is therefore both a possibility and a responsibility.

This idea has important implications for democratic societies. Citizens are not merely observers of political events; they participate, directly or indirectly, in shaping the communities in which they live.

Mauvaise foi: The Temptation to Escape Responsibility

One of Sartre’s most influential concepts is mauvaise foi, developed in Being and Nothingness (1943). Often translated as “bad faith,” the concept describes the tendency of individuals to deny or minimise their own freedom in order to avoid confronting the responsibility that accompanies it.

Sartre argued that people often attempt to define themselves entirely through their circumstances, social roles or external pressures. By doing so, they present their choices as inevitable rather than as decisions for which they remain responsible.

In Existentialism Is a Humanism, Sartre argued that when individuals choose, they also express a vision of what they believe human beings should become. Every choice has a wider significance because individuals contribute through their actions to the world they share with others.

Applied to democratic culture, mauvaise foi can be understood as the tendency to deny or minimise one’s own responsibility within political life.

Citizens may believe that political outcomes are determined entirely by leaders, institutions or historical forces. They may criticise public decisions while withdrawing from participation. They may demand the protections offered by democracy while avoiding the responsibilities required to maintain it.

Sartre’s argument does not suggest that individuals control every historical event. Human beings are influenced by economic, social and political circumstances. Rather, his argument is that circumstances do not completely remove responsibility. Individuals remain responsible for how they respond to the world they inherit.

This is one of the central challenges of democratic citizenship: freedom requires engagement.

L’enfer, c’est les autres: Recognition, Difference and Democratic Life

Sartre’s famous phrase “Hell is other people” appears in his 1944 play No Exit. The phrase is often misunderstood as a rejection of social relationships. Sartre’s argument is more complex.

The difficulty lies in the tension between our own experience of ourselves as free subjects and the way others may define us through their perceptions and judgments.

Other people are essential to human existence because they provide recognition and allow us to understand ourselves in relation to the world. Yet their judgments can also create a feeling of limitation because they may reduce our complex identities to a single interpretation.

This insight has direct relevance for democracy. Democratic societies are built upon difference. Citizens do not share identical values, experiences or political priorities. Democracy exists precisely because societies contain disagreement.

The challenge is therefore not to eliminate disagreement, but to develop the capacity to manage disagreement while preserving mutual recognition.

When political opponents are viewed as threats rather than fellow citizens, democratic dialogue becomes increasingly difficult. Public debate becomes a struggle between identities rather than an exchange of ideas.

Sartre’s insight is that living with others is difficult precisely because it matters. The presence of others challenges us, but it also makes collective life possible.

From Individual Freedom to Collective Action: Sartre’s Political Development

Sartre’s later writings moved beyond individual existence towards questions of history, society and collective action.

In Critique of Dialectical Reason (1960), Sartre explored how individuals move from isolated experiences towards collective projects. He examined how people form groups and political movements in response to shared circumstances.

This development is important because it demonstrates that Sartre’s philosophy was not simply an argument for individual independence. Although he began with the individual experience of freedom, his later writings increasingly explored how individuals become engaged in collective action.

In this respect, Sartre connects with broader traditions of democratic thought.

Hannah Arendt emphasised the importance of public action and participation in political life. Jürgen Habermas highlighted communication and public reasoning as foundations of democratic legitimacy. Although these thinkers developed different approaches, they shared a concern with the conditions that allow citizens to act together.

Sartre’s distinctive contribution is his insistence that democratic participation begins with recognising oneself as a responsible actor.

Sartre and the Contemporary Crisis of Democratic Culture

The relevance of Sartre today lies in his ability to illuminate enduring challenges rather than provide direct political solutions.

Many democratic societies face difficulties associated with declining trust in institutions, political polarisation, social fragmentation and the weakening of shared public dialogue.

Sartre’s concepts offer a philosophical framework for examining these developments.

Mauvaise foi raises the question of whether citizens are avoiding responsibility by presenting themselves as powerless observers of political change.

L’enfer, c’est les autres raises the question of whether disagreement is being transformed into permanent hostility.

Democratic societies require a civic culture in which citizens can defend their own convictions while recognising the legitimacy of those who hold different views.

The democratic challenge is therefore cultural as much as institutional.

Freedom, Responsibility and the Future of Democracy

The American democratic tradition has placed freedom at the centre of political life. Sartre’s philosophy does not reject this principle; instead, it asks what kind of individuals are required for freedom to endure.

Freedom without responsibility becomes fragile. Individual rights without civic commitment become vulnerable. Democratic institutions without a democratic culture cannot sustain themselves indefinitely.

After 250 years, the question facing democratic societies is not only whether institutions survive, but whether citizens preserve the values and practices that give those institutions meaning.

Sartre reminds us that freedom is not simply an inheritance. It is an ongoing responsibility.

Cultural Diplomacy and the Renewal of Democratic Dialogue

The challenges facing democracy increasingly extend beyond national borders. Societies are connected through technology, migration, economic exchange and cultural interaction.

In this environment, cultural diplomacy can contribute to democratic dialogue by creating spaces for exchange, mutual understanding and engagement across social and cultural differences.

Sartre’s philosophy suggests that democratic societies must learn to engage with difference rather than attempt to eliminate it. The existence of others is not an obstacle to collective life; it is the condition through which collective life becomes possible.

The future of democracy depends upon the ability to transform difference from a source of division into an opportunity for dialogue.

Freedom as a Continuing Responsibility

Two hundred and fifty years after American independence, Sartre’s reflections on freedom and responsibility remain relevant because they address a permanent question of democratic life: how do free individuals use their freedom?

Tocqueville examined the social conditions that allow democracy to flourish. Sartre examined the existential conditions that allow freedom to be responsibly exercised.

His concepts of mauvaise foi and L’enfer, c’est les autres reveal two enduring challenges: the temptation to escape responsibility and the difficulty of recognising others as equal participants in a shared society.

Democracy is sustained by laws and institutions, but ultimately it is sustained by people.

Sartre’s enduring message is that freedom carries responsibility. Citizens cannot create democratic societies by standing outside history. They must participate in shaping the world they share with others.

The future of democratic societies will depend upon whether individuals choose the comfort of avoiding responsibility or accept the demanding but necessary task of using their freedom wisely.

Selected References

Arendt, Hannah. The Human Condition. University of Chicago Press, 1958.

Habermas, Jürgen. Between Facts and Norms: Contributions to a Discourse Theory of Law and Democracy. MIT Press, 1996.

Sartre, Jean-Paul. Being and Nothingness. 1943.

Sartre, Jean-Paul. Existentialism Is a Humanism. 1946.

Sartre, Jean-Paul. No Exit. 1944.

Sartre, Jean-Paul. Critique of Dialectical Reason. 1960.

Tocqueville, Alexis de. Democracy in America. 1835–1840.

Aronson, Ronald. We Have Only This Life to Live: Selected Essays of Jean-Paul Sartre. New York: Counterpoint, 2004.

Flynn, Thomas R. Sartre, Foucault, and Historical Reason. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005.  

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