Democracy

1
Democracy

• John R Hughes

2
What is democracy?

• Democracy is a system involving effective
  competition between political parties for
  positions of power.
• Originally conceived by the Greeks
• Demos people
• Kratia rule of people
• Democracy as rule by the people.

3
Why is democracy significant? Democracy as second
best

• Many forms of government have been tried, and
  will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No
  one pretends that democracy is perfect or
  all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy
  is the worst form of government except all those
  other forms that have been tried from time to
  time Sir Winston Churchill, Hansard, November
  11th, 1947.
• For Aristotle, in the Politics, the best form of
  government was monarchy, if the monarch was a
  virtuous person. Aristocracy (literally rule by
  the best) was a close second, but again only if
  those who governed were virtuous.
• Aristotle proposes polity or constitutional
  government as the best form of government,
  certainly in practical terms.

4
Why is democracy significant? Democratic
governance as the norm.

• Huntington (199116) defines three waves of
  democratization since the mid 19th century 
• First wave of democratization (18281926)
• First reverse wave (19221942)
• Second, wave of democratization (19431962)
• Second reverse wave (19581975)
• Third wave of democratization (1974

5
Defining Democracy key issues

• Three key questions to consider
• Is democracy simply a matter of choosing a
  government?
• Does democracy imply certain types of policy?
• Does democracy ensure certain standards of living
  for its citizens?
• Schumpeter defines democracy as a system for
  arriving at political decisions in which
  individuals acquire the power to decide by means
  of a competitive struggle for the peoples vote.
• Dahls concept of POLYARCHY (opposition,
  participation and civil liberty) elaborates on
  Schumpeters definition.

6
Democratic Theory

• Direct Democracy (e.g. Jean Jacques Rousseau).
• Representative/Liberal Democracy (e.g. John
  Stuart Mill and John Locke).
• Pluralist Democracy (e.g. Joseph Schumpeter and
  Robert Dahl).

7
Direct Democracy

• Key features
• Emphasises the role of the citizen.
• Equal rights, duties and engagement of all
  citizens.
• The rule of the majority (at the expense of
  minority rights?).

8
Representative/Liberal Democracy

• Key features
• Democracy as a form of social contract (Locke).
• Government as Leviathon (Hobbes).
• Utilitarianism and focus on the common good
  (Mill).
• Representative government and accountability.

9
Pluralist Democracy

• Key features
• Particularly associated with post-war era.
• Focus on elite groups.
• Representation of the people through
  competition of competing elite groups.
• Robert Dahl (1971) Polyarchy Participation and
  Opposition.