Political Theory Democracy: What is it? Is it desirable? To allow government by the people, certain conditions must be met.

Democracy consists of four basic elements: 1. 2. 3. 4. A political system for choosing and replacing a government through free and fair elections. The active participation of the people, as citizens in politics and public life. Protection of the human rights of all citizens. A rule of law, in which the laws and procedure apply equally to all citizens.

Is Democracy Special Brian Barry Democracy: There are no constraints on the content of outcomes produced (except for respect for human rights, substantive equality and general welfare). It indicates preferences for general lines of policy, not specific incidents. There must be a formal connection between citizens' preferences and the outcomes produced. In the long run, democratic procedures are more likely to produce majoritarian outcomes than alternative procedures are. Sometimes it can be unclear what the 'majority' is referring to. The majority of what? For example, this can be a problem in Gibraltar/Spain.

Democracy and Deliberation James Fishkin We face a choice between allowing the politically equal but relatively incompetent masses to make political decisions, or the politically unequal but relatively more competent elites. Arguments for democracy in a small Republic: Only in a small republic would it be possible for the public interest to be properly understood.

In an extensive republic the public good is sacrificed to a thousand private views. - Montesquieu However, Hume argues that in a large government there is compass and room enough to refine the democracy.. In a small, direct democracy the tyranny of the majority is less likely. In a larger democracy, all involved claim to represent the interests of the community, but all in fact represent themselves in a selfish lust for power.

Classical Democracy:

Citizens should enjoy political equality in order that they be free to rule and be rules in turn. There is direct participation of citizens in legislative and judicial functions. The assembly of citizens has sovereign power. There is a restriction of citizenship to relatively small numbers

In contemporary politics there is limited scope for active involvement, this would have been regarded as most democratic in a classical democracy. Democracy means accountability to no authority other than the community itself, self government is the basis of liberty, together with the right of citizens to participate. All within an institutional framework. Protective Republicanism: Political participation is an essential condition of personal liberty; if citizens do not rule themselves, they will be dominated by others. Citizen participation can be achieved via different mechanisms, eg. representatives.

Rousseau Citizens must enjoy political and economic equality in order that nobody can be master of another and all can enjoy equal freedom and development in the process of self-determination for the common good. Hobbes Individuals ought willingly to surrender their rights of self-government to a powerful single authority thereafter authorised to act on their behalf.

Max Weber and Joseph Schumpeter There is a high price attached to living in a modern, industrial society A restrictive concept of democracy a means of choosing decision makers and curbing their excesses Politics creates a manufactures not a genuine popular will Political issues, options and 'remedies' can be created by sales tricks and gimmicks; fashions and fads can rule the public mind: and political inability can become the norm. All that distinguishes democracies from non-democracies is the way in which leaders are selected Political outcomes are the result of government and the executive trying to mediate and adjudicate between the competing demands of groups.

Elections and the competitive party system remain crucial for ensuring that political representatives will be somewhat responsive to the preferences of ordinary citizens. - Dahl, 1956 Some citizens are neither active in, nor very concerned about politics A tyrannous majority is improbable because elections express the preferences of various

competitive groups, rather than the wishes of a firm majority. If there were no prior convention, then, unless the election were unanimous, why would the minority be obliged to submit to the choice of the majority, and why would a hundred who want a master have the right to vote on behalf of ten who do not want one? - Rousseau The law of majority rule is itself something established by convention, and presupposes unanimity at least once. - Rousseau The more important and serious deliberations are, the more nearly unanimous the opinion that prevails should be.

In ancient Athens, the composition of the demos consisted entirely of free adult males of strictly Athenian descent. (The ratio of slaved to the free was 3:2) This is an entirely undemocratic base. Our constitution is called a democracy because power is in the hands not of a minority but of the whole people Everyone is equal before the law. Each individual is interested in not only his own affairs but the affairs of the whole state as well. Everyone is well informed on politics, a man who minds his own business has no business here at all. Pericles (a prominent Athenian citizen) In Athens there was self government through direct participation. There was free and unrestricted discourse which meant that the law of the state was the citizens' law. Law is juxtaposed with tyranny, and freedom, therefore, implies respect for the law.

The Athenian did not imagine himself to be wholly unconstrained, but he drew the sharpest distinction between the restraint which is merely subjection to another man's arbitrary will and hat which has a right to be respected and hence in this sense is self-imposed. - Sabine, 1963 The democratic idea of justice is numerical equality. In a democracy, the poor have more power than the rich because they are more, rule by the many rather than rule by the few. Without numerical equality, the multitude cannot have sovereign. Democracy treats all men as equal, whether they are equal or not - Plato in 'The Republic' The leaders in a democracy depend on popular favour. They act to sustain popularity so unpleasant truths are avoided.

1. Without political equality, votes are not counted equally, or the voices of some do not get an effective hearing. 2. Without non-tyranny, the essential interests of some groups are destroyed when such outcomes could be avoided for everyone. 3. Without deliberation, democratic choices are not exercised in a meaningful way.

If the preferences that determine the results of democratic procedures are unreflective or ignorant, then they lose their claim to political authority. Political Equality: = The institutionalisation of a system which grants equal consideration to everyone's preferences and which grants everyone appropriately equal opportunities to formulate preferences on the issues under consideration. If one party are always in power, they may have control over the media so the opposition do not get heard, the background fairness has been violated. Extreme social and economic inequalities spill over into the political process and destroy individual deliberation. Non-tyranny: Tyranny: the choice of a policy that imposes severe deprivations when an alternative policy could have been chosen that imposed none. Without a non-tyranny constraint, the theory of democracy is vulnerable to counterexamples. Deliberation: Public opinion should not be taken in its raw form. Public views should be refined and enlarged by passing them through the medium of a chosen body of citizens. The public voice arrived at by such representatives will be more for the public good than if pronounced by the people themselves, convened for the purpose.

Madison vs. Majority Democracy: A political form of government in which governing power is derived from the people, by consensus, direct referendum or by means of elected representatives of the people. Without governmental or constitutional protections of individual liberties, it is possible for a minority to be oppressed by the 'tyranny of the majority'. Freedom of political expression, freedom of speech and freedom of the press are essential so that citizens are informed and able to vote in their personal interests.

Tyranny of the Majority: This is a scenario in which decisions made by a majority under that system would place that majority's interests so far above a dissenting individual's interest that the individual would be actively oppressed. Limits on the decisions that can be made by such majorities, such as constitutional limits on the power of parliament are common ways of reducing the problem. Also, the separation of powers can stop this happening internally within government.

The Logic of Collective Action Mancur Olson Narrow and well organised minorities are more likely to assert their interests over those of the majority. When the benefits of political action are spread over fewer agents, especially

those who can reward active participation in their group goals, they might therefore be able to dominate or distort the political process. Majority Rule: A decision rule that selects alternatives which have a majority, that is, more than half the votes. Plurality: This makes the option with the most votes the winner. Majority rule cannot be the only supreme power in democracy, or there will be the tyranny of the majority. Democracy must guarantee that the majority will not abuse its power to violate the basic an inalienable rights of the minority. The minority must have all the rights to seek to become the majority, free press, free speech and petition, or the majority would make itself permanent and become a dictatorship.

So, democracy requires minority rights.

Public Choice Iain McLean Citizens use votes to maximise their satisfaction. Without proportional representation it is next to impossible for a new party to challenge the existing ones for power. PR would lower the electoral threshold. Voters have views which they communicate to politicians, who try to give them what they want, or else they try to make voters want what they have to give. This is shaping voters preferences. Voters preferences can be treated as exogenous.

Deliberation and Legitimacy Joshua Cohen Deliberative Democracy: An association whose affairs are governed by the public deliberation of its members In a well ordered democracy, political debate is organised around alternative concepts of the public good. Public deliberation should work on the details of these conceptions. Democracy is about competing visions of a good society.

Deliberative Democracy and Social Choice David Miller Democracy: 1. free elections, competing parties, freedom of speech