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Social Structure & Political Mobilization
HC1 29/3/2016
Democracy: Power from the people, of the people, and for the people ( Most general (and vague)
definition).
A Liberal democracy is the most prevalent and stable form, however, other types of democracy do exist.
Liberal democracy:
• Liberal: Importance of individual rights and the protection from collective actors (incl.
representative organs): constitution
• Democracy: a government responsive to citizens’ preferences
Importance of Delegation and Majority vote
• Public decision making too complex: the public should vote for a knowledgeable elite to
legitimize power (delegation)
Elections and campaigns make elite responsive to public
• Decisions made on the basis of ‘majority wins’
‘One head, one vote’ (equality)
No violation of fundamental individual rights
What does a well-functioning liberal democracy need?
• Free, fair, and recurrent elections to select elites
• Political parties that represent different preferences
• Fair competition between parties for votes
• Citizens that vote in elections to make their wishes heard
• Citizens that trust their elected officials and let them work autonomously
• Decision rule that follows majority of preferences
• Majority decision rule NOT about proposals that fundamentally threaten individual (minority)
rights
Della Porta (2013)
Two dimensions of democracy: (1) Right to opposition, and (2) Level of inclusion
By combining these two, you get: (1) Closed hegemonies, (2) Competitive oligarchies, (3) Inclusive
hegemonies, and (4) Polyarchies.
Paths of democratizations: (1) Liberalizations precedes inclusion, (2) Inclusion precedes liberalization,
and (3) short cut with direct passage from closed hegemony to polyarchy.
Challenges for liberal democracy: (1) Shift of power from parties (and representative institutions) to the
executive, (2) Shift of power from nation state to international governmental organizations (IGOs), and
(3) Shift of power from state to the market, which also implies a shift from welfare state to warfare state.
Democratic paradox
“There is a striking paradox to note about the contemporary era: from Africa to Eastern Europe, Asia
to Latin America, more and more nations and groups are championing the idea of democracy; but they
are doing so at just that moment when the very efficacy of democracy as a national form of political
organization appears open to question” (Held, 1998: p.11, as cited in: Della Porta, 2013, p.1).
Normative critique on Liberal democracy: Too much emphasis on voting and majority wins principle.
Participatory democrats: Citizens should be involved in democratic process in between elections as
well.
Deliberative democrats: Decisions should not be based on counting votes but on communicative process
where opinions are formed.
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