WEEK 7 - Political Participation and Pressure Groups

Question 1

What is Political Participation?

Answer 1

Citizens aiming to influence decision-making process.

Question 2

Is active Political Participation always a good thing?

Answer 2

Do we want everyone to take part.

View of Special Interest V The Will of the people.

• The will of the people can become perverted and self interested (miners strike)
• What the people want can become muddy when politicians exploit the will of the people for their special interests (Farage: Brexit)

Question 3

What is Rosseau’s view on political participation?

Answer 3

Democractic Participation as a means via which individuals achieve freedom

Question 4

What is Almond and Verba’s (1963) view on political participation?

Answer 4

‘Civic Culture’ most conductive to stable democracy.

Political culture connects individual attitudes with overall political system.

Question 5

What is Putnam’s (1994) view on political participation?

Answer 5

Presence of ‘Civic Community’ creates strong,responsive, effective representative institutions

(Social Capital)

Question 6

What is Epistemic/ Deliberative Democracy?

Answer 6

Political discussion among (representative) sample of citizens

Question 7

What are the features of Deliberative Democracy?

Answer 7

• Open, reasoned deliberation
• Mutual Understanding
• Common Interest
• Involvement

But there are practical issues (How do you get this to work)

Question 8

What are the alternative views on political participation?

Answer 8

Schumpeter (1943)

Hibbbing and Theiss-Morse (2002)

Question 9

What is Schumpeter’s view on political participation?

Answer 9

‘The typical citizen drops down to a lower level of mental performance as soon as he enters the political field. He argues and analyses in a way that he would recognize as infantile within the sphere of his real interests. He becomes a primitive again.’

Essentially, give regular people political power they become stupid

Question 10

What is Hibbing and Theiss-Moore’s view on political participation?

Answer 10

Not far behind “giving more power to selfish elites” on the list of disliked political procedures is “getting more personally involved” .

-People hate to get more involved

Question 11

What is Milbrath and Goel’s view on patterns of participation?

Answer 11

Political efficacy and participation is unequally distributed

-There is three types of political participation. Gladiators (i.e Politicians), Spectators (i.e Voting) and Apathetics

With Gladiators being the least participated.

• There’s a correlation between participation and social background
• Apathy could be seen as a sign of satisfaction and well-functioning democracy

Question 12

What are Interest Groups (Pressure Groups)?

Answer 12

Non-governmental organisations which seek to influence public policy

Question 13

What are some features of Pressure Groups?

Answer 13

• Typically Narrow issue focused
• Can exert influence from the outside (Outsider Group)
• Protective and Promotional Groups
• Insider and Outsider Groups

Question 14

What are some channels of access for Pressure Groups?

Answer 14

-Executive
-Legislative
-Courts
- Political Parties
- Mass Media
- International
Organisations/Summits

Question 15

What’s the forms of interest group competition and organisation?

Answer 15

• Pluralism

- Corporatism

Question 16

What is the Pluralist model behind Pressure Groups?

Answer 16

• Power is/should be fragmented and widely dispersed
• Interests compete on a ‘free market’ basis
• No formalised role in decision-making process
• State as neutral arbiter.

Essentially, the state listens to all pressure groups

Question 17

What the critique behind the Pluralist Model of Pressure Groups?

Answer 17

Are all the voices having the same access to the higher powers? NO

Question 18

What is the Corporatist Model behind Pressure Groups?

Answer 18

• Incorporation organised interests in governing process
• Tripartite negotiations with ‘social partners’
• Consensus Oriented

Government, Businesses and Trade Unions talk to each other.

Question 19

What are the critiques behind the Corporatist model?

Answer 19

• Limited Access for those pressure groups outside the circle
• As seen in the 60’s-Early 70’s imbalance between the 3 with Trade Unions growing

Question 20

What are Social Movements?

Answer 20

• Typically postmaterialist causes (For greater ideal view)
• Difference from Interest Groups
  (Less Formal Organisation,Less Narrowly defined objectives and demands, Always ‘Outsiders’)

e.g: ‘Arab Spring’ and ‘Occupy wall street’ and ‘Yellow vest protest’ (Fr)

Question 21

What is the Downs Paradox (Paradox of Voting)?

Answer 21

• Not rational for a person to vote i.e not in their self interest
• Cost of voting outweighs the benefits
• Someone rational not take actions for which the costs outweigh the benefits
• Therefore, people shouldn’t vote