3. Direct democracy
People make law/policy
themselves
Example: Initiative: Citizen petition
places proposed law/constitutional
amendment on ballot, people vote
yes or no (state level – Florida)
4. • Representative government –
– We elect people to make decisions for us,
trust they will make decisions we support.
– Do they truly represent the citizens who
elect them? Which citizens get the “most”
representation?
– What do we expect out of our
representatives? Should they mirror their
constituents’ views (be delegates) or be
allowed leeway to exercise their own
judgment (trustees)?
5. Implications of having
representative gov’t
(elected officials)
Many countries have elections, but US is
unique in 1. how its electoral system
works, and 2. how elections affect the
winners and the governed
“Politics in US driven by electoral
influences”
6. How are US elections unique?
• Number
• Frequency
• Length of campaigns
• “Permanent Campaign” – why does this
exist?
7. Why is there a permanent
campaign?
– Separation of elections
– Decline of parties (nominations) Rise of
interest groups
– Growth of polling
– Technological advances
– Cost of campaigns – constant fundraising
by individual candidates, national
campaign committees,
8. What does government do?
• 1. Maintain national defense (armed
forces ) - $600+ billion per year on ND
• 2. Provide public goods/services
(schools, libraries, highways etc.)
• 3. Preserve order ( police/national
guard)
• 4. Socialize the young (through schools)
• 5. Collect taxes to pay for #2
9. Where does policy come
from?
• “The people?” Transmit preferences to
policymakers in government through
“linkage institutions” (parties, elections,
interest groups, media)
• Citizens shape the government’s
POLICY AGENDA
• Main policymaking institutions:
Congress, presidency, courts (&
bureaucracy)
10. What does democracy mean?
• Traditional democratic theory
emphasizes certain principles:
– MAJORITY RULE, but also
– MINORITY RIGHTS (e.g. to freedom of
speech, assembly)
– REPRESENTATION (Wishes of “the
people” should be “made present
again”/honored/carried out by elected
officials)
11. Modern theories of American
democracy – how it works
• 1. PLURALISM – Policymaking should
be open to participation of all groups
with no single group dominating (Dahl)
• 2. ELITISM - Pluralists too
optimistic/unrealistic – Upper class elite
(the wealthy/big business) pulls the
strings of government.
(Schattschneider)
• 3.
12. • 3. HYPERPLURALISM –
• “pluralism gone sour” – Lots of groups
out there, so many competing groups
that government can’t act. Also too
many ways for groups to get their way –
multiple levels of government and veto
points at which groups can use the
political system to their advantage. The
“public interest” loses out.
13. Challenges to democracy
• Complexity of issues (can average
citizen understand them? If not, what
does it mean for representatives to
carry out citizens’ preferences?)
• Limited participation in government
(especially by young people)
• Rising campaign costs – money talks…
• Policy gridlock (relates to
hyperpluralism)
