AP Government
Majoritarian or Pluralist
Democracy?
Number of Citizens Involved in the
Process of Governing
•
•
•
•
Autocracy
Oligarchy
Democracy
Demagogue
2 Schools of Thought on What
Constitutes a Democracy
(1) Procedural
Democratic theory
• 4 Attributes of
Procedural
Democracy:
– Universal
participation
– Political equity
– Majority rule
– Responsiveness
• Plurality rule
Direct vs. Indirect Democracy
• Participatory
democracy
• Representative
democracy
• Is participatory
democracy possible in
the US today?
• What guides how
representatives vote?
2 Schools of Thought on What
Constitutes a Democracy
(2) Substantive
Democratic theory
• Civil liberties
• Civil rights
• Social rights
– Examples?
• Economic rights
– Examples?
• Minority rights
Majoritarian Model of Democracy
• government by the
majority of the people
• mass participation in
politics is required
• people are well-informed
on political issues and
make thoughtful voting
decisions
• citizens to participate
directly in decision-making
• Referendum, initiative,
recall
Pluralistic
Model of
Democracy
• people group along
economic, religious,
ethnic or cultural lines
• People with similar
interests form
INTEREST GROUPS
• government by people
operating through
competing interest
groups
• The plural model favors
• a decentralized and
organizationally
complex structure
• to provides groups
open access to public
officials who consider
their views
Institutional Mechanisms
• Majoritarian democracy
counts individuals through
• elections
• referenda
• initiatives
• Pluralist democracy relies
on numerous points of
access
• partitioned authority
• decentralization
• open access
Majoritarian vs. Pluralist Case Study
• A classic case: the
Spotted Owl in the
Pacific Northwest
• loggers v.
environmental
groups
• How can a
conflict between
intense minorities
be settled
"democratically"
Elite Theory Model of Democracy
• Important government decisions are made by a small
but powerful group of people with great wealth
• They make decisions in the interest of the financial,
communications, industrial, and government
institutions
• Differs from pluralist theory in identifying the ruling
minority.
– Elite theory: a small, distinct, and durable group
– Pluralist theory: different minorities win on
different issues
• Research does not tend to support elite theory
Which Model of Democracy is Best?
• Decentralized gov’t fits
• Centralized gov’t fits
majoritarian democracy
pluralist democracy
• Elected representatives
• minorities rule, but many
are expected to respond
minorities in conflict
quickly to the wishes of
• They are organized into
the people
competing interest groups
• No place for partitioned
• Does not stress gov’t
authority -- the gov’t
responsiveness to majority
should be structured to
provide for immediate
demands but gov’t for the
expression of public
public interest
opinion
• Democracy comes about
• Emphasizes MAJORITY
through the openness of
RULE over MINORITY
the system to group
RIGHTS
interests
Difficulties for New Democracies
• Ethnic and religious conflict
• Fraud by those in power (to
stay in power)
• Vulnerability to military
overthrow
• Economic instability
• Economic prosperity =
democracy
– Tend to protect political
freedoms if protecting
economic freedoms
Which Model of Democracy is US?
• U.S. citizens do not participate regularly in politics
• U.S. government sometimes does not do what the
majority wants
• Its decentralized and open structure fits the pluralist
model very well
• So U.S. looks democratic by pluralist model
The Theory of Democratic Government
• Theories of a democratic government include
consideration of:
– Autocracy: a system of government in which the
power to govern is concentrated in the hands of one
individual
– Oligarchy: a system of government in which power is
concentrated in the hands of a few people
– Democracy: a system of government in which, in
theory, the people rule, either directly or indirectly
The Meaning and
Symbolism of Democracy
• The first major school of thought about what
constitutes democracy believes that
democracy is a form of government that
emphasizes the procedures that enable the
people to govern or how decisions are made.
• The second major school of thought about
what constitutes democracy sees democracy
in the substance of government policies, in
freedom of religion and the provision for
human needs, or what government does.
The Procedural View of Democracy
• Procedural democratic theory: a view of democracy
as being embodied in a decision-making process
that involves universal participation, political
equality, majority rule,
and responsiveness.
• These principles address three questions:
– Who should participate in decision-making?
– How Much should each participant’s vote count?
– How many votes are needed to reach a decision?
The Procedural View of Democracy
• Universal participation: the concept that
everyone in a democratic society should
participate in governmental decision-making
• Political equality: provides for one vote per
person, with all votes counted equally
• Majority rule: the decision of a group must
reflect the preference of more than half of
those participating
A Complication: Direct
Versus Indirect Democracy
• Societies can fulfill principles with a direct or participatory
democracy: a system of government where rank-and-file citizens
rule themselves rather than electing representatives to govern on
their behalf
• The framers of the Constitution were convinced that participatory
democracy on the national level was undesirable
– They created a representative democracy: a system of government
where citizens elect public officials to govern on their behalf
– A fourth principle is necessary -- responsiveness: a decision-making
principle necessitated by representative government, that implies that
elected representatives should do what the majority of people wants
The Substantive
View of Democracy
• Substantive democratic theory: the view that
democracy is embodied in the substance of
government policies rather than in the
policymaking procedure
– Government policies should guarantee civil liberties
(freedom of behavior, such as freedom of religion and
freedom of expression)
– Government policies should guarantee civil rights
(powers or privileges that government may not
arbitrarily deny to individuals, such as protection
against discrimination in employment and housing)
Procedural Democracy
Versus Substantive Democracy
– The substantive view of democracy does not provide clear,
precise criteria that allow a determination of whether or
not government is democratic
– The procedural view can produce undesirable social
policies because of those criteria, such as those that prey
on minorities
Institutional Models of Democracy
• The majoritarian model of democracy: the
classical theory of democracy in which
government by the people is interpreted as
government by the majority of the people
• The pluralist model of democracy: an
interpretation of democracy in which
government by the people is taken to mean
government by people operating through
competing interest groups
The Majoritarian
Model vs. the Pluralist Model
• Majoritarian model:
– Conclusive elections
– Centralized structure of government
– Cohesive political parties with well-defined programs
• Pluralist model:
– Does not demand much knowledge from citizens in
general but requires specialized knowledge of groups
of citizens
– Limits majority action - allows minorities to rule
Institutional Models of Democracy
• An alternative - but undemocratic - model is
elite theory: the view that a small group of
people actually makes most of the important
government decisions.
• Elite Theory vs. Pluralist Theory
– Pluralist theory see many different groups vying
with each other in each policy arena
– Elite theory sees a durable ruling minority
Democracies and Globalization
• Democratization: a process of transition as a
country attempts to move from an
authoritarian form of government to a
democratic one
• American Democracy: More Pluralist than
Majoritarian
Tests for Democratic Gov’t in Countries
• Powell's five criteria for democratic government:
– Bases legitimacy desires of its citizens.
– Leaders are chosen in free elections, contested by
at least two viable political parties.
– Most adults can participate in the electoral process.
– Citizens' votes are secret and are not coerced.
– Citizens, leaders, and party officials enjoy basic
freedoms of speech, press, assembly, relgion, and
organization.
• Only about 20 of the world's 100 largest nations
qualify as democracies in all five ratings.