Defining Democracy  Aristotle – “rule of the many”  Citizens participate in either making policy or holding office  Majority consissted of the clsses with greatest number of people  Accountable to the people  Problem: no clear way to determine whether a government, decision, or policy is truly democratic

Democracy NOT in the Constitution  Framers used term “republican form of government”  Meant a representative democracy  In republics, citizens and the government work together to attain common good instead of personal interest

Two Types of Democracy  Direct Democracy – all or most citizens participate directly  Small town meeting  Not compatible with large populations  Referendum votes are direct democracy  Decisions depend on the votes of the people, not the votes of representatives  Issues with Direct Democracy  Will of the people isn’t same as common interest or public good  Factions would make it difficult to govern  need to form coalitions (Madison)  Larger republics would foster more moderate views  The people don’t have everyone’s common interest in mind  An enlightened minority could be trusted to make educated decisions with everyone’s best interest in mind  Representative Democracy – elected representatives make decisions on behalf of the people  Chosen through a competitive struggle for a popular vote  Leaders must compromise to connect to a majority of voters, which can balance out radical candidates  Sometimes called the “elitist theory”

Theories of Democratic Government  Marxist View  Struggle for power between the bourgeoisie and proletariat  Whichever class dominates the economy also controls the government  Believe the US government represents eh rich since it is “a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie” (Wilson)

Theories – Power Elite View  Government dominated by a few top leaders, most of whom are outside of government  Elites: have disproportionate share of some valued resource  Enjoy advantages in wealth, status, or organizational position  High political leaders (president, cabinet, & advisers)  Major corporate owners & executives  High ranking military officers  Tend to be more polarized than the average citizen  Developed by sociologist Charles Wright Mills but was shaped by Max Weber

Theories – Bureaucratic View  Government officials & workers are the ones who exercise power by helping write policies into existence (not the elected representatives)  Appointed officials are mostly invisible to the average person  Implement & make policies to suit their interests and ideas  Theory created by Max Weber  Institutions allow bureaucrats to control them, as to maintain & control the government more easily  Desirable to some extent, as expertise & specialization allow bureaucrats to make better decisions

Theories – Pluralist View  Policies are passed due to which interest is more representative of the views of Americans  Large spectrum of input from competing interests  Onse that are fought for most tend to be the ones most represented  Enough political resources available that big business cannot lock out every single issue  No one group controls a majority of the political process (state, local, & federal levels)