Download Claire`s lecture 2004

Comparative Politics 1
POL1010
Lecture 3
21st October 2004, 3-4pm
What is Democracy?
Lecture Plan
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Types of political system
Definitions of democracy
Issues associated with democracy
Models of democracy
Strengths and weaknesses of these
models
• Democracy in action: liberal democracy
• Interpretations of liberal democracy
Types of Political System
Aristotle’s categories:
• Democracies
• Oligarchies
• Monarchies
Democracy as the enduring
political principle
• In its origins Democracy seen as a
necessary evil - Plato and Aristotle
• From Athens to 2004
• Late 20th century - fall of ideologies
• Liberals, conservatives, socialists,
communist, fascists - we are all
democrats now
Definitions of Democracy
‘Democracy is the worst form of
government except all the other
forms which have been tried from
time to time’
Source: Winston Churchill, 1947
Defining Democracy
Ancient Greece - ‘demos’ - the people / ‘kratos’
- power
‘democracy is perhaps the most
promiscuous word in the world of public
affairs’
Source: Bernard Crick, 1993
Defining Democracy: Who are ‘the
people’?
• Principle of political equality
• But who are the people? In practice what restrictions
are placed on participation?
– Greek city-states males, over 20 years
– UK universal suffrage only from 1928
– USA 1960s until full democracy achieved
– 1971 in Switzerland when women finally given the
vote
– All examples of democracy excluded children from
participation
– In addition, other restrictions apply - e.g.
imprisoned criminals
Defining Democracy: Government by
the People
• Government by the people
• What will do ‘the people’ actually exert?
– General will of the collective (Rousseau)
– Majority will of most people
(majoritarianism)
– Private will of individuals
Government by the People: Forms of
Participation I
Direct / Participatory
• Continuous involvement of citizenry in
decision-making
– referenda, mass meetings, interactive devices
– e.g. of system of popular self-government,
Athenian city-state, Switzerland
– Plebiscitary democracy as a sub-species
Government by the People: Forms of
Participation II
Representative Democracy
• Voting Periodically
– Limited, indirect government
– Delegation of power via electoral mandate
– Competitive elections
Government by the People: Forms of
Participation III
Radical Democracy
• Goal of decentralised power and widened
participation
• Socialists and Feminists
• More of an ideal than an actuality
Government by the People: Forms of
Participation IV
Totalitarian Democracy
• Absolute dictatorships still label
themselves as democracies – e.g.
Hitler’s Germany
• Ritualised form of democracy – focus is
the leader as a the representative of the
people
Government by the People to
Government for the People
Continuum
for the people
by the people
radical
direct
representative
totalitarian
Models of Democracy
Democracy - one size does not fit all?
Within the concept of ‘liberal democracy’
there are several different types of rule:
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Classical democracy
Protective democracy
Developmental democracy
People’s democracy
Models of Democracy
Classical democracy
• Polis of Greek city-state Athens, 4th-5th
centuries BC
• Pure form of popular participation (though no
women or slaves)
– Assembly (Ecclesia) of citizens took all major
decisions
– Met at least 40 times a year
• Influenced later thinkers - Rousseau and
Marx
• Criticised by Plato – The Republic
– Role of rulers taken by ‘philosopher-kings’
Models of Democracy
Protective democracy
• Rejection of participation
• Limited and indirect form of democracy
• Aristotle’s question to Plato: ‘quis custodiet
custodies? Who will guard the guardians?
• 17th C John Locke – natural and property
rights
• 18th C The Utilitarians: Jeremy Bentham and
James Mill
• ‘greatest happiness of the greatest number’
• People give power – via consent through the
act of voting
Models of Democracy
Developmental democracy
•Jean-Jacques Rousseau – The Social Contract
(1792)
•Individual freedom comes via obedience to the
‘general will’
•Participation
•Decentralisation
•John Stuart Mill – ‘educative function’ of
democracy
Models of Democracy
People’s democracy
• Marxist tradition
• Soviet political system
– Lenin – power in the political system
should be concentrated with the
Communist Party – representing the
workers as the masses
– No check on the power of the CP
Democracy in Action: Common
Features of Liberal Democracy
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Indirect and representative form of
democracy – political office is gained
through success in regular elections
Importance of competition and choice – via
political pluralism and having an open
system
Distinction is clear between state and
society – autonomous groups and interests
are allowed to exist free from state
interference
Liberal Democracy in Action: Five
Interpretations
• Pluralist View – LD guarantees
responsiveness and accountability
• Elitist View – in LD tendency for political
power to be concentrated in the hands of the
few
• Corporatist View – role of groups (in particular
TUs) in LD
• New Right View – in LD can be a danger of
democratic overload
• Marxist View – relationship between LD and
capitalism
Bibliography
Crick, B. (1993) In Defence of Politics Penguin.
Marquand, D. (1988) The Unprincipled Society London:
Cape.
Rousseau, J-J. [1762] (1913)The Social Contract London: Dent.
Mill, J.S. [1859] (1982) On Liberty Penguin.
Bentham, J. [1776] (1948) Fragments on Government and an
Introduction to the Principles of Law Oxford: Blackwell.
Locke, J. [1690] (1965) Two Treatise on Government New York,
NY: New American Library.
Aristotle Politics Penguin.
Plato The Republic Penguin.
Lenin, V. [1902] (1968) What is to be Done? Penguin.