WHAT

DEMOCRACY IS

AND IS NOT P. Schmitter and T. Karl

Questions

• Which factors determine the prospects for the consolidation of multi-party

democracy?

• Do pressure groups contribute to democracy or do they distort its operation in the interest of elite groups?

Major Theme

• Democracy as a

catchword: what is

democracy?

• Democracy does not consist

of a single unique set of

institutions.

Joseph Schumpeter

• “Modern political

democracy is a system of

governance in which

rulers are held

accountable for their

actions in the public

realm by citizens and

acting indirectly

through the competition

of their elected

representatives.”

What Democracy Is

• Regime (or system of governance) – an ensemble of patterns that determines the methods of access to the principal public offices; the characteristics of the actors admitted

to or excluded from such success; the strategies that actors may use to gain access; and rules that are followed in the making of publicly binding decisions.

• Citizens – the most distinctive element in democracies. One of the key role of the citizens is to participate in public life.

• Competition – has not been always

considered as an essential element in democracy. Classic democracies presume decision-making based on

direct participation leading to consensus.

• Elections – the elections must be fairly conducted and honestly counted. During intervals between elections, citizens can seek to influence public policy through intermediaries (interest associations, social movements, locality groupings).

• Majority Rule – aim to produce a majority winner even it results in a disproportion between votes cast and seats won.

• Cooperation – actors must voluntarily make collective decisions binding on the polity as a whole. There must be

cooperation in order in compete. The capability of acting collectively through parties, associations and movements.

• Representatives – whether elected or appointed do the most of the real work in modern democracies. It is doubtful that any democracy can survive without such people.

It is not whether or not there will be political elite or even a professional political class but how these representatives are chose and are accountable for their actions.

Procedural Minimal (Robert Dahl)

• Control over government decisions

about polity is constitutionally vested in

elected officials

• Elected officials are chosen in frequent

and fairly conducted elections in

which coercion is comparatively

uncommon

• Practically all adults have the right to

vote in the election of officials

• Practically all adults have the right to

run for elective offices in the

government

• Citizens have a right to express themselves

without the danger of severe punishment

on political matters broadly defined

• Citizens have a right to seek out alternative

sources of information. Moreover,

alternative sources of information exist and

are protected by law

• Citizens also have the right to form relatively

independent associations or organizations,

including independent political parties and

interest groups

• Popularly elected officials must be able to

exercise their constitutional powers

without being subjected to overriding

opposition from unelected officials

(reference to the military control on

politics, i.e. Central America).

• The polity must be self governing, it must

be able to act independently of

constraints imposed by some other

overarching political system (neo-colonial

arrangements and ideological influence)

Gist of the Procedural Minimal

The Feasibility of Democracy

• The simplest answer is by the consent of the people.

• The more complex answer is by the contingent consent of politicians acting under conditions of bounded rationality.

How Democracies Differ?

Consensus Parliamentary Sovereignty

Participation Party Government

Access Pluralism

Responsiveness Federalism

Majority Rule Presidentialism

Checks and Balances

What Democracy is Not?

• Democracies are not necessarily

economically more efficient.

• Democracies are not necessarily

administratively more efficient.

• Democracies are likely to appear more

orderly, consensual, stable or governable

than the autocracies they are replacing.

• Democracies will have more open

societies and polities than the autocracies

they replace, but not necessarily more

open economies.

• Modern democracy offers a variety of competitive processes and channels for the expression of interests and values-associational as well as partisan, functional as well as territorial,

collective as well as individual. All are integral to its practice.

• Multiparty Democracy - democracy in which multiple political parties have the capacity to gain control of government separately or in coalition.

• Unlike a single-party system (or a non-partisan democracy), it encourages the general constituency to form multiple

distinct, officially recognized groups, generally called political parties. Each party competes for votes from the enfranchised constituents. It prevents the leadership of a single party

from controlling a single legislative chamber without challenge.

• Pressure Groups – an organized group of people that aims to influence the policies or actions of

government. They exert influence from

the outside; they have a narrow issue focus;

and are united by a shared belief in a

particular cause or a comment set of

interests.

Rights Responsibilities

Criticize the government Criticisms must be based on

facts

Hold meetings Must be peaceful and legal

Protest Inform authorities when

making protests

Make their views known Not be intimidating

Pressure Groups and Democracy

• Questions about pressure-group power are

closely related to debates about the

implications of group politics for

democracy. Pluralist theorists argue that

group politics is the very stuff of

democracy, even advancing the idea of

pluralist democracy. On the other hand,

elitists and others attack pressure groups

and claim that they weaken or undermine

the democratic process.

• Supplement electoral democracy (keeps government in touch with public opinion, give

political voice to minority groups, articulate

concerns)

• Widen political participation (pressure

groups are active agents of political participation)

• Promote education (pressure groups

promote political debate, discussion and argument )

• Ensure competition and debate (pressure groups widens the distribution of political

power)

Pressure groups promote democracy

• Increase political inequality (pressure groups

tend to empower the already powerful)

• Exercise non-legitimate power (pressure

groups are not publicly accountable

• meaning that the influence they exert is not

democratically legitimate)

• Exert „behind the scenes‟ influence (pressure-group influence is exerted in a way that is not

subject to scrutiny and public accountability)

• Lead to the tyranny of the minority (pressure groups, by their very nature, represent

minorities rather than majorities)

Pressure groups threaten

democracy

References:

• Schmitter P. & Karl, T. (1991). What

Democracy Is and Is Not. Journal of

Democracy, 2 (3), 247-255.

• Schofield N. & Sened I. (n.d.) Multiparty

Democracy. Saint Louis: Washington

University. Retrieved from

http://sened.wustl.edu/publications/multi_

democracy.pdf

• (n.d.). Chapter 5: Pressure Groups.

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