Discussion 2 model or democracy
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files (2)American_Governemt_and_Politics_Today_2017_00_Front.pdf.pdf
PoliSciLesson2ModelsofDemocracySept2021.pdf
American_Governemt_and_Politics_Today_2017_00_Front.pdf.pdf
Front Matter
8/29/23, 9:04 PM Page 1 of 1
PoliSciLesson2ModelsofDemocracySept2021.pdf
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Models of Democracy
Lesson 2
Outline:
1. Democratic Government Theory 2. Understanding Democratic Government through Institutional Models 3. Establishing Democracies
4. Evaluating American Democracy
5. Conclusion
Source: http://www.phschool.com/eteach/social_studies/2002_03/three_braches_bldgs.jpg
Source: http://www.wku.edu/Library/dlps/gdoc_pix/We_The_People.jpg
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1. Democratic Government Theory
A. This lesson will examine the models of democracy: Majoritarian and Pluralist (and the elite concept will be noted).
• Models assist us with analysis and decision making; such as traffic and air quality models.
B. One fundamental distinction among governments is the number of people who participate in important decision making.
• It can be one person, a few, or several people.
C. Types of government based on decision making include the following three:
• Autocracy - rule by one (example - Saddam Hussein in Iraq). Common in earlier government. One person power problems.
• Oligarchy - rule by a few (example - military rule). Military rule is a powerful elite or a
nobility/lords.
• Democracy - rule by many (example - United States). Some would argue that rule by many creates many significant challenges.
D. What is Democracy?
Refer to the following web site to obtain additional information concerning democracy and to view a world map that depicts the countries that are free, partly free, and not free: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy
• Democracy is rule by the people, or government by the people.
• Democracy has become the apple-pie and motherhood buzzword of political discourse.
• Democracy has a symbolic value that overshadows its meaning. What comes to mind? Freedom, Liberty, Justice for all, etc.
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Source: http://www.illinoisfamily.org/content/img/f26970/LibertyBell.jpg
• The names of more than 20 percent of the world’s political parties contain some variation of democracy. North Korea calls itself the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and by our standards it is not. China - Peoples Republic of China - Freedom is restricted. Others?
• It is not enough to know that “the people” govern; one needs to understand who “the people” are and how they govern in a democracy.
• So, what does democracy mean to you?
• Simply put; democracy is a means (a process) of selecting policy makers and of organizing government so that policy represents and responds to the people’s preferences.
• Examples: Health care, education, protection of life and property, etc.
• Does government policy reflect your values, desires, etc.?
• There are two schools of thought about what constitutes a democracy: Procedural and Substantive!
**Procedural view of democracy stresses form and process of
government. It prescribes a set of normative principles for democratic decision making.
- Procedural view is about “how” government should make decisions.
- The procedural view principles include three elements:
(1) Universal participation - everyone should participate (or be allowed to
participate). Do they? Why? (are people too busy, not informed, don’t care, etc.?)
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(2) Political equality - one vote per person; concerning individual preferences,
all are equal. Is this the case? One vote, yes. But, politics enters the picture: i.e., power, influence, open vs. closed political doors, proximity to decision makers, etc.
(3) Majority rule - the majority of the votes make the decisions (but preserve
minority rights).
- Majority is 50% plus one, or if several options, reverts to plurality rule.
- Plurality rule is a group with the most votes.
In direct democracy, where people directly participate and influence their government - these three principles above apply. In California, we have direct democracy with the initiative, referendum, and recall process. We the people can directly make law and change it.
However, where we have indirect democracy, or representative government such as with the federal level of government, we need to include the following fourth principle:
(4) Responsiveness - elected representatives should respond to public opinion.
Do they? Is our government responsive to public opinion? Responsiveness contends government should do what a majority of the citizens want, no matter what that is.This principle (of responsiveness) is unsettling to some people, who fear the enactment of “undemocratic” decisions as a response to majority rule. Example, majority will oppress the minority.
So, indirect democracy, or representative democracy has four principles when using the procedural view: 1. Universal participation, 2. political equality, 3. majority rule, and with indirect democracy, 4. responsiveness is essential. For political decisions to be a truly democratic process, all four principles must be included!
**Substantive view of democracy evaluates democracy on the basis of the
substance of government policies. It focuses on the principles and goals embodied in
government policies.
- The core principle is the Bill of Rights! The fact that you protect the people provides substance, and this constitutes democracy (with substantive democracy).
- Most substantive theorists require that democratic government must guarantee civil rights (powers and privileges guaranteed to people - ed., work, etc.) and civil liberties (freedoms guaranteed to individuals - speech, religion, peaceful assembly, etc.).
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E. Procedural and Substantive Dichotomy
• Is there a dichotomy (contradiction) between procedural and substantive views of democracy? Yes.
• Example with procedural: The unlimited majority rule (procedural - direct) may result in policies that are unfavorable to minorities (i.e., no smoking in public places, abortion, capital punishment, etc.). So, the majority offends the minority!
• Example with substantive: The imprecise standards of the substantive perspective cannot adequately resolve whether policies are truly democratic (i.e., government guaranteeing certain rights might jeopardize rights of others?). The problem is someone decides on the policy, makes a decision, etc.
• Abraham Lincoln’s famous definition of democracy from his Gettysburg Address:
“government of the people, by the people, and for the people.”
However, in our representative form of government, the people do not actually govern themselves, but rather choose the leaders who will make the governing decisions.
2. Understanding Democratic Government through Institutional Models
A. A representative democracy requires some means (process) by which decision makers can determine what people want.
• Institutional mechanisms are used to promote government responsiveness (i.e., established procedures and organizations).
• Government procedures and organizations are used to translate public opinion into government policy. How?
• Institutional mechanisms include: elections, political parties (they help educate us), legislatures, and interest groups (need feedback such as surveys, opinion polls, etc.).
• The following institutional mechanisms have been established to serve the purposes of majoritarian democracy (several states, but not at the national level):
- Initiative - A procedure where voters propose an issue to the leg. Citizens
circulate a petition for signatures to put a policy issue on the ballot.
-- Permits registered voters to place a proposed law, or statute, on the ballot.
-- Requires petition signatures equal to 5% of the votes cast in the last election for governor.
-- Amendments to the state constitution require 8%.
-- Petition circulators given 150 days to gather signatures.
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-- Secretary of State evaluates validity of signatures, and if approved, the measure is given a proposition number.
-- Approval requires simple majority of the next election.
- Referendum - via legislature or people’s initiative.
-- Used less than the initiative.
-- Two types: One allows voters to repeal a law (requires signatures within 90 days of the legislation’s passage, not good re. time!), and the second type is submitted to voters by the legislature.
-- The state constitution requires that all legislative efforts to borrow money by the sale of bonds, as well as all constitutional amendments proposed by the legislature, be approved by the voters.
- Recall - a procedure in which citizens gather signatures on a petition to dismiss
an elected official before his or her term of office expires.
Source: http://i.cnn.net/cnn/ELECTION/2003/recall/pages/maps/recall.maps/vote.main.jpg
-- The threat is more common than its use.
-- A recall petition normally requires the signatures of 12 to 25 percent of those who voted in the last election.
-- In Covina, east of Los Angeles, all five council members were ousted because of voter unhappiness over a utility tax.
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B. The Majoritarian and Pluralist theories/models differ over the extent to which decision makers (government) should respond to mass public opinion.
• Majoritarian Model
- The majoritarian model of democracy relies on the classic textbook theory of democracy.
- It interprets government “by the people” as government by the majority of the people.
- It assumes that mass participation in politics is required to ensure government accountability.
- It assumes that people will be well informed on political issues and make thoughtful voting decisions. Is this the case? Why?
Source: http://leftsideoftheroad.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/voting.jpg
- So, the Majoritarian approach assumes that citizens are knowledgeable about government and want to participate. Critics say this is not so.
- The Majoritarian approach encourages citizens to participate directly in decision making through the institutional mechanisms of the referendum and the initiative.
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• Pluralist Model
The Pluralist Model of Democracy is all about groups:
Interest groups, political parties, and more groups...
Source: Google
- The pluralist model of democracy was developed to accommodate the reality of mass political behavior, which assumes that citizens are uninformed about their government. Any perspectives?
- This model is based on the idea of pluralism, which assumes that people in modern society often form groupings along economic, religious, ethnic, or cultural lines.
- Some people may affiliate or associate with only one or two of these groups or others.
- People with similar interests form interest groups to try to influence government policymakers.
- The pluralist model of democracy interprets government “by the people” to mean government by people operating through competing interest groups.
- The pluralist model favors a decentralized and organizationally complex government structure that provides these groups open access to public officials who consider their views.
- So, competing interest groups and a decentralized government are the two major mechanisms of pluralist democracy.
Source: Google
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- As long as the system remains open to the interplay of diverse interests, the “public interest” will eventually be served through the interaction of the conflicting interests in policymaking.
• Pluralist and majoritarian differences:
- In majoritarianism, the building blocks are individual citizens, rather than groups or organized interests.
- In majoritarianism, citizens themselves assert their preferences directly into the system through mechanisms for mass participation.
- In majoritarianism, there is no place for partitioned authority - the government should be structured to provide for immediate expression of public opinion.
- In majoritarianism, elected representatives are expected to respond quickly to the wishes of the people.
• Question, do we have too many groups?
- Some argue a Hyperpluralism theory. Hyperpluralism is pluralism gone sour (i.e., too many influential groups cripple government’s ability to govern).
- Hyperpluralism states that many groups, not just the elite ones, are so strong that gov. is unable to act (this divides government).
- When policymakers try to placate many powerful groups, the result is muddled and inconsistent policy.
- Example: one part of government can subsidize tobacco farmers, while another preaches about the evils of smoking.
• Elite Theory
- The elite theory is an undemocratic model of U.S. government.
- Elite theory assumes that important government decisions are made by a small but powerful group of people who have great wealth and extensive business connections.
-- One-half of U.S. Senators were millionaires in 1999.
-- Over 1/3 of the nation’s wealth is held by approximately one percent of U.S. population.
- These people make decisions in the interest of the financial, communications, industrial, and government institutions they represent rather than in the interest of the populace.
- Elite theory has more visibility at the local government level.
- Elite theory differs from pluralist theory mainly in its identification of the ruling minority.
- Elite theory holds that it is a small, distinct, and durable group.
- Pluralist theory does not assume that a single minority rules, but that many different minorities win on different issues (farming, civil rights, air quality, schools, labor, etc.).
- Research suggests that an identifiable elite does not regularly win on government issues.
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- Important to know - Although U.S. democracy can be better described by pluralism than by elitism, it must be recognized that all groups are not equally represented in the political system.
Why? Funds, status, positions, locations, issues, public support or lack of, etc.
3. Establishing Democracies A. Democratization is occurring in numerous countries today, such as in Africa. Why?
• Countries now find it difficult to achieve economic success in the global marketplace without establishing market economies.
• The communications/information revolution has made it difficult for authoritarian countries to keep information about capitalism and democracy from their citizens.
• Advanced communication technology provides global communication and information and this allows others to be informed and learn about liberty and freedom.
Source: https://freedomhouse.org
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B. Emerging democracies are fragile because they face numerous pressures.
• Democratization is aggravated by ethnic and religious conflicts.
• Democratization is frequently accompanied by political and economic instability.
• Such instability often leads to attack by opponents of democracy. These attacks frequently question the legitimacy of the new democratic government.
• Canada’s Quebec Providence wants to be a separate nation (re. French speaking).
• Attempted overthrow of Yeltsin in Russia in 1999 (not happy with its democratization…).
Here's another great web link for information about democracy, democratization, and factors affecting democratization: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratization
4. Evaluating American Democracy
Source: http://answer.pephost.org/images/content/pagebuilder/57359.jpg
A. How can our government be called democratic when citizen participation is low and government actions do not always reflect public opinion? This is not majoritarianism!
B. Although the United States does not compare favorably to the majoritarian model, it does more closely approach the pluralist model (i.e., we often form groupings and/or join interest groups along economic, religious, ethnic, or cultural lines, and try to influence government policymakers).
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C. American pluralism has its disadvantages.
• It favors well-organized interests, and many sectors of our society (for example, the poor, mentally challenged, etc.) are not well organized.
• Survey data show that although Americans are more satisfied with their democracy than are people in other countries, Americans’ trust in government has deteriorated. Why? Leadership issues, corruption, etc.?
D. If the pluralist model makes the United States look more democratic than the majoritarian model, you should ask yourself these questions:
• Is the pluralist model really an adequate expression of democracy, or is it a perversion of the classical ideal, designed to portray the United States as more democratic than it really is?
• Does the majoritarian model result in a more desirable type of democracy?
• If so, is it possible to devise new mechanisms of government to produce the mix of majority rule and minority rights that we desire?
• Are Americans happy? What about other countries? Are they happy with their form and operation of government?
5. Conclusion
This unit has examined two significant models of democracy, Majoritarian and Pluralist, that assist us in understanding how our government and democracy work. Both models are political threads that are woven into the fabric of democracy and are used and can be seen at all levels of government on a daily basis. Both models are used in our democracy, and both models are available for your use. Pluralism allows us to participate in our government activities through political parties, interest groups, and other pluralistic opportunities to engage our government. Marjoritarianism allows us many opportunities to participate in government decision-making by voting, assisting with election promotions, writing letters and sending email comments to our elected officials, and taking advantage of other opportunities that are available.
