Summary

Summary Political science 314 Exam notes (Term 2, semester 1 notes)

0 purchase

Course
Political Science 314

Institution
Stellenbosch University (SUN)

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.

[Show more]

Preview 4 out of 45 pages

View example

Uploaded on September 7, 2022
Number of pages 45
Written in 2021/2022
Type Summary

studentlawyergirl Member since 5 year 9 documents sold

R100,00

Add to cart

Add to wishlist

100% satisfaction guarantee
Immediately available after payment
Both online and in PDF
No strings attached

POLITICAL SCIENCE 314 EXAM NOTES

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

1

,  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),

2

,  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

3

,  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

4

The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:

Guaranteed quality through customer reviews

Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.

Quick and easy check-out

You can quickly pay through EFT, credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.

Focus on what matters

Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!

Frequently asked questions

What do I get when I buy this document?

You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.

Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?

Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.

Who am I buying this summary from?

Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller studentlawyergirl. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.

Will I be stuck with a subscription?

No, you only buy this summary for R100,00. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.

Can Stuvia be trusted?

4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)

68175 documents were sold in the last 30 days

Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy summaries for 15 years now

Start selling

Seller

Class notes ·

Summary

Summary Political science 314 Exam notes (Term 2, semester 1 notes)

Document information

Subjects

Written for