DEMOCRACY AND ITS LIMITS

Warm-up #2  Think about your family for a second. How are decisions made in your family:  Who makes the decisions?  How do they make the decisions? (Do they think things through? Act on feelings? Flip a coin?)  Do these people in charge consult others or allow for discussions in deciding what to do?  On a scale of 1-5, with 1 being terrible and 5 being outstanding, how would you rate the decision making process of your family?

Theories of Democracy  majoritarianism (traditional theory): the theory that the majority decides who is in power and what government does  pluralism: the theory that competing interest groups decide what government does  hyperpluralism: the theory that competing interest groups are so strong that government cannot properly function  elitism: the theory that a small group of wealthy or well- connected people actually control the government  bureaucratic rule: the theory that unelected administrators actually make government decisions

Limits on Government Power:  constitutionalism: a legal system that places limits on government power  authoritarian government: government with no legal limits that is opposed by other sources of power  totalitarian government: government with no limits that is unopposed by other sources of power