UNIT 3: Democracy Flashcards
Various definitions of, approaches to, and conceptualizations of democracy
Types of political party
- Cadre
- mass
- representative
- integrative
- constitutional
- revolutionary
- left wing
- right wing
Functions of parties
- Representation
- elite formation and recruitment
- goal formation
- Interest articulation and aggregation
- Socialization and mobilization
- organization of government
Party Systems
- One party systems
- Two party systems
- Dominant-party systems
- multiparty systems
Types of democracy
- Schumpeterian democracy
- Populist democracy
- Liberal democracy
- Participatory democracy
- social democracy
- deliberative democracy
- modern representative democracy
- classical democracy
Heywood on political parties
- relatively recent invention
- Upsurge of democratization since 1980s led to renewed flourishing of parties
- modern kind of party as political structures emerged with the federalists in USA
- Socialist, religious, ethnic parties emerge out of social movements
Cadre Parties
- Party of notables
- dominated by informal leaders who saw little point in building up mass organization
- rely on a politically active elite who offer ideological leadership to the masses
Mass parties
- heavy emphasis on broadening membership and maintaining a wide electoral base
- Heavy stress on recruitment and organization rather than ideology/political conviction
- Often formally democratic
- membership usually entails little participation, more general agreement
Otto Kirchheimer
- German Jewish political scientist 2. Theorised “catch all parties”
- Parties reduce ideological baggage to appeal to a largest possible number of voters
- emphasize leadership and unity, downgrading the role of individual members
- focused on broad coalitions of support rather than a particular social class or sectional group
Sigmund Neumann
theorized the distinction between representative and integrative parties in 1956
Representative parties
- primary function is securing votes in election
- reflect public opinion rather than shaping it
- Pragmatism before principle
- rational choice model of political behaviour
Integrative parties
- High precedence on ideology
- mobilize, educate and inspire the masses
Constitutional parties
- acknowledge the rights and entitlements of other parties
- operate within the constitutional framework
- high precedence placed on division between the party and the state
- respect electoral competition
- mainstream in liberal democracy
Revolutionary parties
- anti system and anti constitutional
- aim to seize power and overthrow existing constitutional structure
- can lead to limited distinction between party and state apparatus
Representation as party function
- often seen as primary function
- respond and articulate views of members and voters
- the party is an inputting device
- best carried out in open and competitive system
- rational choice theorists compare to economic market
Elite formation and recruitment as party function
- parties are the creation of powerful politicians
- parties are used as political vehicles to mobilize support for said politicians
Goal formation as a function of parties
- parties means through which societies set collective goals and try carry them out
- Encourages formation of coherent set of policy options
- tendency towards de-ideologized catch all nature
Interest articulation and aggregation as
- vehicles through which certain groups advance or defend their interests
- forced by pressures of electoral competition
Socialization and mobilization as a function of political parties
- The issues parties choose to focus on help set the broader political agenda
- values and attitudes of a party become part of a broader political culture
- propagate an official ideology (CCP and MAGA)
- brought into doubt due to partisan dealignment and disenchantment w party politics
Organization of government as a function of parties
- help in the formation of governments in parliamentary systems
- Stability and coherence
- More unity than independents
- facilitate cooperation between the assembly and the executive
Party democracy
Form of popular rule that operates through the agency of a party, Intraparty democracy parties are democratic agents, among whom power is widely and evenly dispersed. Allows policy making power to be concentrated in the hands of elected party members who are publicly accountable
Moisei Ostrogorski
- Russian politician, sociologist and political scientist
- considered one of the founders of political sociology
- worked in theories of parties and democracy
- said representation in parties of individual interests had lost out to the growing influence of the marty machine and control exerted by a caucus of senior political party figures
Robert Michels
- German italian sociologist
- contributed to elite theory by describing the political behaviour of intellectual elites
- developed the iron law of oligarchy
Iron Law of oligarchy
- all organizations, including those committed to democratic ideals and practices, will inevitably succumb to rule by an elite few
- Elite groups result from need for specialization; they have greater expertise and skill than ordinary members; leaders form cohesive groups to remain in power; general members are apathetic and accept subordination/ venerate leaders
- Based his theories around the social democratic party of Germany
Democratic centralism
Leninist principle of party organization based on a supposed balance between freedom of discussion and strict unity of action
Party Systems
1.relatively stable network of relationships between parties that is structured by their number, size and ideological orientation
2. Complex relationships between parties structure how a political system works
3. pattern of relationships amongst parties constitutes a system only if it is characterized by stability and a degree of orderliness
4. argue that in age of partisan dealignment and volatile voting patterns party systems are losing their systematic character
One party systems
- Monopoly of power through exclusion of all other parties by political or constitutional means
- Essentially function as permanent governments with a fused party-state apparatus
- anticolonial nationalism and tate consolidation (Ghana, Tanzania, Zimbabwe)
Lenin justification for one party monopoly
- Party acts as the vanguard of the proletariat
- Party provides working class with ideological leadership to fulfill its revolutionary destiny
- Trotsky: Vanguardism concealed burgeoning influence of state bureaucracy
Two party-system
- duopolistic
- two major parties with roughly equal electoral and legislative strength to have realistic prospect of winning elections
- Large party is unable to rule alone, there is an opposition
- power alternates
- UK,USA, Australia
- Supposedly characterized by stability, choice and accountability
- battle for votes in the centre
- can cause ideological polarisation
- Competing for votes can lead to irresponsible spending and false promises
Dominant party systems
- competitive in the sense that a number of parties compete for power in regular and popular elections
- Dominated by a single major party that consequently enjoys prolonged periods of power
- tends towards stability and predictability
- erodes distinction between party and the state -> an insidious process of politicization
- unchallenged power can engender complacency, arrogance. corruption
Multiparty systems
- competition amongst more than 2 parties, increasing chance of coalition
- fractured and unstable
- overrepresentation of centrist interests
Decline of parties
- deciling membership
- falling voter turnout
- real or perceived oligarchical character
- Protest groups that are loosely organised and locally based have been more effective
- social identities and traditional loyalties that gave rise to parties in the first place are starting to fade
JB Thompson
- British sociologist
- wrote ‘the media and modernity’
JB thompson on Democracy
- Democracy has become the only idea capable of underwriting the legitimate exercise of political power in the late 20th century
- Scale of nation state led to practical issues with implementation of classical direct democracy
- lamented growing cynicism, low voter turnout, gamification, lack of true participation
- challenges against representative democracy have been directed at restriction of democratic procedures due to institutionalized politics and market inequalities; no democracy itself
Representative democracy and capitalism (JB Thompson)
- development of institutions of representative democracy in emerging nation states went hand in hand with development of market economy and capitalism
- condition may have been a historical contingency
- difficult to see how democratic regime could operate effectively without some degree of autonomous market oriented development in the economy
JB Thompson on direct democracy
- much to be said
- recognizes all individuals as equal and autonomus agents
- emphasizes importance of dialogue and argument rather than violence and force
- endows agency
- practical issues remain
JB Thompson on practical issues of direct democracy
presupposes social and symbolic conditions which are rarely met by the circumstances under which decision making processes take place (shared spatial locale, equality of status, process of dialogue). Can be applied effectively in some arenas. The model is based on certain conditions which, given the scale and complexity of the modern world are increasingly remote from the actual circumstances in which decisions are made
JB Thompson on deliberative democracy
- not an alternative to representative institutions but a way of developing and enriching them
- treats all individuals as autonomous agents
- focuses attention on processes by which judgements/decisions are made
- individuals consider alternatives, weigh up reasoned arguments
- creates legitimate decisions by way of generalized deliberation
- role of media diversity and pluralism central
Amy Gutman on democracy
- sometimes identified narrowly with majority rule
- sometimes broadly encompassing all that is humanly good
- majoritarian decision making is a means of democratic rule, but not a sufficient democratic standard
Amy Gutman on justifications of democracy
- presume people who live together need decision making process that takes popular interest into account
- people generally best judge of their own interests
- no better way to minimize the abuse of power than to distribute it equally
- instrumental to human development
- represents fair terms of a social contract
Winston Churchill
democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others
Schumpeterian democracy
- defines democracy as “that institutional arrangement for arriving at political decisions in which individuals acquire the power to decide by means of a competitive struggle for people’s vote
- Purely as a functional form of decision making and distributing power
- SA in 1992 would be democratic, Stalinist russia would have been if the communist party could vote
Amy Gutmann on Populist democracy
- hinged on the value of popular will over unpopular will
- people ruling themselves rather than being ruled by external power
- requires constraints on popular rule in the name of democracy including free speech and press, rule of law, formal voting equality
Amy Gutmann on criticisms of popular will/populist democracy
- not the same as democratic will
- the constraints on popular will required to ensure democratic expression of popular will may not, in themselves be the will of the populus
- tendency towards majoritarianism, without sufficient safeguards for minorities
Takis S Pappas on Populist democracy
- 2013
- Political scientist at University of Helsinki expert on populism, democracy and political leadership
- populist democracy is a distinct type of representative democracy; a hybrid regime with characteristics of democracy and authoritarianism
- democratic, but to larger or lesser extent illiberal
Amy Gutman on liberal democracy
- denies that popular role (as considered in populist democracy) is ultimate political value
- qualifies value of popular rule by recognising basic liberties that take priority over popular rule and its conditions
- makes more room for judicial review, checks and balances and separation of powers
John Rawls thoery of justice
- freedom of thought, speech, press, association, religion, personal property, freedom to vote and hold public office, freedom from arbitrary arrest and seizure
- basic to the ideal of free and equal human beings
- take priority over democratic decision making
Amy Gutmann on Participatory Democracy
- challenges the relative emphasis democracy places on protecting personal freedom compared to participating in politics
- contemporary democracies offer limited opportunities for meaningful participation
- understood as an attempt to respond to problems stemming on inadequate political understanding and engagement of the electorate
- political participation is central part of ‘good life’ and will be recognised as such under the right conditions
- widespread participation is necessary to prevent the abuse of power by politicians
Amy Gutmann on Social Democracy
1.extends logic of liberal democracy to civil society, aread traditional liberals considered private
2. holds that state tyranny is worse than tyranny of economic organisation
3. deal with the consequences of market capitalism within the liberal democratic paradigm
4. social programs regulating market and providing welfare etc
Richard Wolheim and paradoxes of democracy
the paradox that arises from believing the majority decision is wrong, but following it anyway since the principles of democracy are correct
Modern Representative democracy
- mode of organising political power meant to secure accountability of rulers
- cannot separate from formation of modern nation state, or history of capitalism and liberalism
- democracy associated with the free market: the merging of homo politicus and homo economicus
Tenets of liberal democracy
- free and fair elections
- social contract/constitution
- principle of rule by the people
