Chapter 2: Majoritarian or Pluralist
Democracy?
Synopsis
All governments have to make choices or decisions, but
they do not all make them in the same way. One way to
analyze how a country is governed is to consider how many
people are involved in the decision-making process. When
the rules are approved by only one person, the government
is called an autocracy. A government in which only
a few select people make binding decisions is an
oligarchy. A government that allows many people to
participate is a democracy.
Most Americans, if asked, would probably agree that they
live in a democracy because the "people" govern. This
simplistic answer obscures the reality and complexity of
democratic government. Democracy, a word widely used in
the world, conveys a variety of meanings and translates
into numerous variations of government.
There are two schools of thought about what constitutes a
democracy. The procedural view stresses the form
and process of government, or how the people
govern. Procedural democracy emphasizes the principles of
universal participation, political equality, and
majority rule. Modern nations are too large to
employ direct (or participatory) democracy, and
they must rely on indirect democracy in the form
of representative government. When the people
elect representatives to govern for them, the procedural
view of democracy also insists on the principle of
responsiveness, that the government should follow
the general thrust of public opinion.
The substantive view concentrates on what a
government actually does‹that is, the policies it
makes should fulfill democratic ideals. A substantive
theorist would not recognize a decision that violated
those ideals (for example, limiting freedom of religion)
as "democratic" even if it were made in response to
majority wishes. Substantive theorists, however, do not
agree on democratic ideals. Our book views democracy in
terms of procedures rather than substance.
No nation is small enough to find direct democracy
practical, so democratic governments develop established
procedures and organizations to link public opinion to
government policy. Elections, political parties,
legislatures, and interest groups are all institutional
mechanisms intended to keep American government
responsive to the people.
Encompassed within the procedural view of democracy are
two schools of thought. According to the majoritarian
model of democracy, mass participation and majority
rule are required procedures for democratic government.
According to the pluralist model, government by
the people can be interpreted to mean government
operating through competing interest groups rather than
government by public opinion. Pluralists advocate greater
reliance on groups of citizens representing their
interests to government decision makers.
An "undemocratic" approach to understanding American
government is the elite model, which holds that
the really important policy decisions are made by a few
wealthy and influential individuals. Although voters
appear to control government through elections, the real
power is wielded by a small and select group to suit
their own interests rather than those of the mass public.
Because it identifies the ruling coalition as a distinct
and durable group, the elite model differs from the
pluralist model, which holds that different "minorities"
rule on different issues. Despite the plausibility of the
elite model, research has not supported its main
argument‹that an identifiable group rules
America.
In the world today, many nations are struggling to become
democratic after long histories of authoritarian
governments. These nations face problems including ethnic
and religious rivalries, a lack of democratic traditions,
and political and economic instability during the
transition period.
Of the two models of democracy, the pluralist model with
its openness to competing interest groups appears to
approximate most closely the type of democracy practiced
in America. American democracy does, however, fall short
of the classic majoritarian concept of democracy grounded
in universal participation, political equality, and
majority rule. The majoritarian model is undercut by the
reality of low citizen participation and political
knowledge in the United States.
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©1998 by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights
reserved.
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