What Democracy Isand Is Not Outline I. What Democracy Isand is not A. What Democracy Is 1.

Robert Dahl tried to introduce a new term, polyarchy in place of democracy 2. Democracy does not consist of a single unique set of institutions, there are many different types 3. The specific form democracy takes depends on a countrys socioeconomic conditions, state structures, & policy practices 4. Democracy: a system of governance in which rulers are held accountable for their actions in the public realm by citizens , acting indirectly through the comp and cooperation of their elected reps 5. Regime or system of governance: a group of patterns that determines the methods of access to the main public offices; the strategies that actors may use to gain access; and the rules that are followed in the making of publically binding decisions 6. Democracies depend on the presence of rulers 7. What distinguishes democratic rulers from nondemocratic ones are the norms that condition how the former come to power and the practices that hold them accountable for their actions 8. Public realm: encompasses the making of collective norms and choices that are binding on the society & backed by state coercion B. Fractions of democracy 1. Citizens: most distinctive element in democracies a. All regimes have rulers, but only to the existent that they are democratic do they have citizens 2. Competition 3. Elections: fairly conducted and honestly counted. Regular elections a. Electoralism: the faith that merely holding elections will channel political action into peaceful contests among elites and accord public legitimacy to the winners b. Citizens can seek to influence public policy through interest associations, social movements, locality groupings, clientelistic arrangements, etc 4. Majority rule: any governing body that makes decisions by combining the votes of more than half of those eligible and present is said to be democratic a. Problem arises when numbers meet intensities i. What happens when a properly assembled majority regularly makes decisions that harm some majority? ii. The form of constitutional provisions that place certain matters beyond the reach of majorities (bill of rights) iii. Most common and effective way of protecting minorities lies in the operation of interest associations and social movements 5. in modern democracies votes may be counted, but influences alone are weighted 6. Cooperation: actors must voluntarily make collective decisions binding on the polity as a whole. They must cooperation in order to compete

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7. Democracys freedoms should also encourage citizens to deliberate among themselves, to discover common need, and to resolve their differences w/o relying on a supreme central authority 8. Civil society: the diverse units of social identity & interest, by remaining indep. of the state, not only can restrain the arbitrary actions of rulers, but can also contribute to forming better citizens who are more aware of preferences of others 9. Representatives: do most of the real work in modern democracies Procedures that make democracy possible 1. Any polity that fails to follow the rule of law with regard to its own procedures, should not be considered democratic 2. procedural minimal a. Control over gov decisions about policy is constitutionally vested in elected officials b. Elected officials are chosen in frequent & fairly conducted elections in which coercion is comparatively uncommon c. Practically all adults have the right to vote in the election of officials d. Practically all adults have the right to run for elective offices e. Citizens have a right to seek out alternative sources of info. Moreover, alternative sources of info exist & are protected by law f. citizens also have the right to form relatively indep. associations or org, including indep political parties & interest groups g. Popularly elected officials must be able to exercise their constitutional powers w/o being subjected to overriding opposition from unelected officials h. The polity must be self-governing Principles that make democracy feasible 1. by the consent of the people 2. All democracies involve a degree of uncertainty about who will be elected & what policies they will pursue How democracies differ 1. See attached paper What democracy is not 1. Democracies are not necessarily more efficient economically than other forms of gov, especially during the transition 2. Democracies are not necessarily more efficient administratively. Their capacity to make decisions may be even slower than regimes b/c more actors must be consulted 3. Democracies are not likely to appear more orderly, consensual, stable, or governable than the autocracies they replace 4. Democracies will have more open societies and polities than the autocracies they replace, but not necessarily more open economies