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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.