Representative Democracy
Introduction to
Government
What is Government?
The formal institutions that make policy, or laws, on behalf of the people
At the national, or federal, level, there are three branches: Executive, Legislative and
Judicial
Governments Should…
Maintain national defense and provide public order
Provide public goods (i.e., public parks, highways, clean air, etc.)
Collect taxes to pay for the services they provide
Linkage Institutions
How people are able to link up with public policies
Political parties
Elections
The media
Interest groups
Public Policy
Any action taken by the government, in order to help, defend, prosecute, etc. citizens at home or enemies abroad are public policies
Players involved in policymaking
Executive, Legislative and Judicial Branches, bureaucracies, government corporations, regulatory agencies, Cabinet members, etc…
Types of Policies
Type of Policy
Congressional
Statute
Definition
Law passed by
Congress
Example
Social Security Act
Presidential Action Executive action Sending troops abroad
Court Decision Opinion by
Supreme Court
Brown v. Board of
Education
Bureaucratic
Action
Law enforced by bureaucracy
Sending immigrants back home
Politics
The term itself comes from the Greek work “polis” which referred to the city-state in Ancient Greece,
however, Americans generally equate politics with corruption and lying
Just 6 percent of voters give Congress a positive job rating, according to polling released June 5, 2013.
One percent think Congress is doing an excellent job and 5 percent think it's doing a good job, a
Rasmussen Reports survey found . Twenty-six percent rated Congress' performance as fair, and 64 percent said it's doing poorly.
Democracy
Direct Democracy (used by the Greeks)– the people themselves have a say over their lives in terms of deciding public policy
Representative Democracy (used by the
Romans, and what we have today) – a democracy where the people freely elect someone to speak, or make decisions, on their behalf
Decisions of the majority should be abided by, yet the rights of the minority should be protected at all times
Theories of Representative
Democracy
Pluralist – Most political scientists subscribe to this view which holds that people are naturally social and form associations
Politics is about a struggle among many groups to get and hold power; everyone wants a piece of the pie
Politics is the art of compromise
Generally have a positive sense of government
Multiple points of access in our federal system
Theories of Representative
Democracy
Elitism – Elite theorists say that pluralists miss the larger questions of how the pie is distributed
They believe that wealth is the basis of all power
(i.e., over 1/3 of our nation’s wealth is held by 1% of the population), and that the elite run the country
American people are effectively left out of the political decision making
Theories of Representative
Democracy
Hyper-Pluralism – Argues that once interest groups get too powerful, democracy and government are threatened
Too many interest groups become so powerful that they dominate the political decision making process (James Madison warned us about factions in Federalist 10)
Democracy can become paralyzed by the struggle between lobbyists or interest groups
Theories of Representative
Democracy
Bureaucratic Theory – Institutions, both governmental and non-governmental, have fallen under the control of a large and evergrowing bureaucracy
Because bureaucracies and their rules are so large, only the bureaucrats can become powerful and take over the roles previously assigned to politicans
Small-group Discussion
Which of the four theories of representative democracy is correct?
Why?
Pluralist
Elite
Hyper-Pluralist
Bureaucratic
