Incorporates everything we did and needed to know for the political science 314 exam. All lectures were done online so notes are verbatim from the lecturer.
Week 7: Pluralist Democracy
CHAPTER 6: PLURALISM, CORPORATE CAPITALISM AND THE STATE
Robert Dahl democratic theorist of our time 1915-2014. Critical to our theory what he wrote
on polyarchy and “who governs”.
Introduction
The realms of modern-day social science
look at Contemporary theorists and theories.
Use recent methodologies in particular of social science methodologies.
Use of empirical data in theory building - attempt to understand how the world looks
and make theory to fit that. Understand the world descriptively and then to build
democratic theory according to those constructs.
Departure from those before
Pluralists: empirical democratic theorists
o Examined dynamics of ‘group politics’
Shift from Schumpeter theory
Summary of schum:
Schumpter and weber: proximate sources of pluralism
Citizen isolated - The citizen is portrayed as isolated and vulnerable in a world
marked by the competitive clash of elites
Nature of equality and participation
Over emphasis on elites
No focus on interest groups: scarcely any attention is paid to ‘intermediary’ groups
such as: community associations, religious bodies, trade unions and business
organizations which cut across people’s lives and connect them in complex ways to a
variety of types of institutions. If judged in relation to this matter alone, Schumpeter’s
theory is partial and incomplete
Competitive elitism only applicable model
Democracy about elections, right to run for office and freedom of speech
Assumes compliance
Denies other important values of democracy
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, Paid little attention to intermediary groups. Reduced democracy theory reduced
democratic theory to nuts and bolt like elections he denies some democratic though
through the ages. Critiques against shum brought about a new school of thought
called pluralism.
Shift in view
A school of political analysts, widely referred to as empirical democratic theorists or
‘pluralists’, attempted to remedy this deficiency by examining directly the dynamics of
‘group politics’.
Pluralism – group politics, this was founded by school of analysts called themselves
empirical democratic theorists. Tried during the 60’s to remedy the gaps in schums
work, look at dynamics of democracy. Modern democracy is more competitive and
outcomes are more satisfactory than shum suggest
Argued: Exploring the interconnections between electoral competition and the
activities of organized interest groups, pluralists argued that modern democratic
politics is actually far more competitive, and policy outcomes are far more
satisfactory to all parties, than Schumpeter’s model suggested.
Fluidity and open nature of democracy explains compliance to dominant political
institutions - taken it beyond elections, people supportive
Pluralists accept and agree :
Representatives are often ‘opinion makers’.
Schumpeter’s broad view that what distinguishes democracies from non-
democracies are the ways (methods) by which political leaders are selected.- The
voting process does separate democracies and not democracies. Importance of
method of electing leaders
Electorate is more apathetic and ill informed
Citizens have little impact on political process
Where they do not agree
o Is where the concentration of pol power is always in elite hands and don’t think its
an inevitable part of politics
o Following Weber, they took as a starting point the existence of many
determinants of the distribution of power and, hence, many power centres. They
deployed Weberian ideas to help challenge doctrines that suggested the
overwhelming centrality of fixed groups of elites (or classes) in political life.
o Pluralists argue many sources of power, challenge the centrality of elites and
many power sits. Challenges class-based elites or political elites.
Pluralism draws from Schumpeter (elections are central to democracy pol and no
fixed elites), Madison (factions) and utilitarian ideas
Madison provided, according to Robert Dahl (one of the earliest and most prominent
exponents of pluralism),
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, Madison: the role of factions – which are ‘interests groups’ or ‘pressure groups’ which
results from, individuals combining their efforts in groups in the competition for
power.
Like Madison, they stressed that factions – or, in their modern guise, ‘interest groups’
or ‘pressure groups’ – are ‘the natural counterpart of free association’ in a world
where most desired goods are scarce and where a complex industrial system
fragments social interests and creates a multiplicity of demands.
purpose of government is to protect freedom of interest group And that large groups
cannot dominate or undermine any individual faction from undermining the freedom
of others these factions.
Interest groups are seen as a source of stability (unlike Madison who thought these
factions would undermine democracy) and the central expression of democracy
Politics concerned with group of individuals maximizing their common interest - see
utilitarian values
Individuals seen as satisfaction maximisers - utilitarian principle
Pluralism – descriptive explanatory account of real world working of dem; provide us
with a realistic; objective aim. More positive view of dem than schum.
Dalhs says that they see the world should be analysed by social scientists.
Group politics, governments and power
Classical pluralism: Robert A. Dahl 1915-2014 & David Truman 1913-2003 USA
Different variants of pluralism with new variants: Classical, neo-pluralism or critical
pluralism
Classical pluralism: stems from the investigation of the distribution of pol power in
western democracies.
By power, pluralists have generally meant a capacity to achieve one’s aims in the
face of opposition.
Power according to Dahl: A’s capacity for acting in such a manner as to control B’s
responses -focus on power dynamics
o A’s capacity to act depends on the means at A’s disposal and the balance of
resources between A and B
o Resources not only financial could be non-financial, resources in society that
can be utilized to exercise pol power, i.e. Popular support that can outweigh
financial support .
o Since different groups have access to different kinds of resources, the
influence of any particular group will generally vary from issue to issue.
Groups have different access to different resources - have diff ways to
exercise power.
Therefore, to pluralists power is non-hierarchical and competitive
And Results in the endless process of bargaining between numerous
groups representing diff interests: race, religion, class, ethnicity etc. -
business orgs, student orgs, trade unions etc
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, These interests groups may be structured on economic or cultural
cleavages but in the long term social forces tend to change their
composition.
Political outcomes result of gov. and the executive trying to mediate and adjudicate
between the competing demands of groups.
Government depts. seen as interest group because they also compete for scarce gov
resources
some citizens are neither active in nor very concerned about politics. A series of
large-scale voting studies initiated in North America, within the pluralist framework,
found that voters were often hostile to politics, apathetic and uninformed about public
issues
Truman -Another early analyst of group politics
There is no single, powerful decision-making centre in the classic pluralist model.
Power is dispersed throughout society and a variety of competing policy-formulation
and decision-making centres arises. So how can an equilibrium or stability be
achieved in democratic societies. (like the US).
The clue to why democracy can achieve relative stability lies, Truman argued, in the
very existence of a ‘protean complex’ of relationships.
Starting from Madison’s assumption that the very diversity of interests in society is
likely to protect a democratic polity from ‘the tyranny of a factious majority’ (by
fragmenting it into factions), Truman suggested that ‘overlapping membership’
between factions is an important additional explanatory variable
in Truman’s words, all ‘tolerably normal’ people enjoy multiple memberships among
groups with diverse – and even incompatible – interests, each interest group is likely
to remain too weak and internally divided to secure a share of power
incommensurate with its size and objectives. The overall direction of public policy
emerges as a result of a series of relatively uncoordinated impacts upon government,
directed from all sides by competing forces, without any one force wielding excessive
influence. Accordingly, out of the fray of interests, policy emerges – to a degree
independently of the efforts of particular politicians – within ‘the democratic mold’
(Truman, 1951, pp. 503–16).
Dem. stability lies in diverse mix of relationships
People have multiple memberships in multiple groups
Elections, parties and groups are important but insufficient to secure democratic
equilibrium
The existence of active groups of various types and sizes is crucial if the democratic
process is to be sustained and if citizens are to advance their goals.
Survey on interest in politics was very low in North America , 1/3 interested
Lack of interest is not necessarily bad. Moreover, a degree of inaction or apathy
might even be functional for the stable continuity of the political system. Extensive
participation can readily lead to increased social conflict, undue disruption and
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