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U1, C2: Majoritarian or Pluralist Democracy?

U1, C2: Majoritarian or Pluralist Democracy?. Government and the People. Individual Ruler. Rule by an elite. Rule by the People. Autocracy. Oligarchy. Democracy. What is democracy? How can we define and measure? Demos common people Kratos “power”

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U1, C2: Majoritarian or Pluralist Democracy?

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  1. U1, C2: Majoritarian or Pluralist Democracy?

  2. Government and the People Individual Ruler Rule by an elite Rule by the People Autocracy Oligarchy Democracy What is democracy? How can we define and measure? Demos common people Kratos “power” Democratization – social cleavages more likely to cause collapse than governmental institutions; relationship to economic prosperity Is Democracy the answer?

  3. Procedural Substantive What constitutes democracy? • Principles of how government should make decisions • Universal participation • Political equality • Majority rule • Government responsiveness to public opinion • Substance of government policies • Government policies should guarantee civil liberties What are some of the strengths and weaknesses of each school of thought?

  4. Majoritarian Pluralist Models of Democracy:Blueprints for achieving democratic government • Government by the majority of the people • Popular election of government officials • Elections mechanism for choosing candidates and deciding government policy • Assumption: citizens are knowledgeable about policies and candidates • Responsiveness to public opinion • Government operating through competing interest groups • Decentralized government – open access • Minority interests organize and make claims on government

  5. Small group (minority) make most important government decisions • Identifiable and stable minority • A few individuals wield power in America; control key financial, communications, industrial, and government institutions • Wealth dominates politics • Power comes from ability to keep issues off the agenda • Differ from pluralist theory: durability of ruling minority • Pluralist model make a virtue of the struggle between competing interests Undemocratic Model:Elite Theory

  6. United Nations • World’s governments that qualified as democracies increased from 39% (1990) to 55% (2003) • Global trend towards freedom every decade since 1975 • Reasons for failure in democratizing countries • Social cleavages • Religious and ethnic conflict • Focus on oppressing opponents • Political and Economic instability Democratization

  7. Survey data: decline in people’s trust in American government • Questions to ask: • Is the pluralist model truly an adequate expression of democracy, or is it a perversion of classical ideals, designed to portray America as democratic when it is not? • Does the majoritarian model result in a “better” type of democracy? • If it does, could new mechanisms of government be devised to produce a desirable mix of majority rule and minority rights? American Democracy

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