Tension in American Democracy Flashcards
Permanent Campaign
(1) ‘The multiplication of elections; (2) The tendency of most voters to be less loyal to a particular party and more interested in individual candidates; (3) The rise of the primary election, which allows party members to vote on their party’s nominees and select a candidate to run in the general election; (4) The ability of politicians to remain in the public eye at all times through developments in transportation and media communications; (5) The multiplication of interest groups; (6) The prominence of political polls.
Separation of Church and State
The government cannot sponsor a religion, promote religious ideas, or require individuals to practice a particular faith.
Majority Rule
Majority rule is a decision-making system often used in governments for choosing between two or more options. When one option wins more than 50% of the vote it wins the election. In contrast with a plurality system.
Plurality System
In a plurality system the winning candidate only needs to win more votes than the other candidates. In contrast with majority rule.
Majoritarian Democracy
Majoritarian democracy refers to democracy based upon majority rule of a society’s citizens. It is criticized as having the inherent danger of becoming a “tyranny of the majority” whereby the majority in society could oppress or exclude minority groups, which can lead to violence and civil war. Furthermore, a majority does not necessarily mean 51%, it just means more people voted for that option than any of the (often several) other options. Contrast with consensus democracy.
Tyranny of the Majority
When there is no incentive for the majority to cooperate or compromise with the minority.
Consensus Democracy
Consensus democracy is the application of consensus decision-making to the process of legislation in a democracy. It is characterized by a decision-making structure which involves and takes into account as broad a range of opinions as possible, as opposed to systems where minority opinions can potentially be ignored by vote-winning majorities. Contrast with Majoritarian Democracy.
May’s Theorem
May’s Theorem states that a group decision must be decisive; in other words, there is one clear winner. It should protect the anonymity of each voter. It treats all of the options equally or with neutrality. And finally, it assures what is called positive responsiveness: It holds in essence that if there is a tie, and if one voter changes his preference while all other votes remain the same, whatever option that voter changes to will win. It is important to know that May’s Theorem only holds true if there is an odd number of voters.
May’s Theorem - Positive Responsiveness
Positive responsiveness holds in essence that if there is a tie, and if one voter changes his preference while all other votes remain the same, whatever option that voter changes to will win.
Five Reason for Power Imbalance in U.S. Democracy
(1) Low voter participation. (2) An increased focus on single-issue voters, those who concentrate on one concern to the exclusion of others. (3) The problem of uninformed citizens. (4) The complex and expensive process of obtaining a nomination to run for office. (5) The massive campaign expenses that candidates must fund in order to run for office.
