Dr. Zakir S.

Khan
What is a democracy?
 Aristotle’s definition: “rule of the many”
 Majority rule (government by the people)
 Two types of democracies:
1. Direct (participatory democracy) “pure”
2. Indirect (representative democracy)
 Direct (participatory democracy)
 All or most of the citizens participate directly in either
holding office or making policy (laws)
 Exists only in very small population sizes
 Exists in some small towns in the U.S. today
Direct (participatory democracy)
 Allows the people to directly make laws and govern
themselves. (people make all the decisions)
 Impractical in large populations or countries
 The founding fathers did not favor a direct democracy
(un-educated masses)
 Very time consuming: most citizens do not have the
time, information, interest, or expertise to make
reasonable choices or political decisions
 Even highly educated people could be manipulated by
demagogic leaders who play on people’s fears and
prejudices
 Direct Democracy Examples Today:
 Referendum: Legislature (Congress) submits a proposed
law to a popular vote by the citizens (voters) during an
election
 Initiative: Citizens write and submit a proposed law to a
popular vote by the citizens (voters) during an election after
obtaining a required number of signatures (people take the
initiative and write the bill themselves)
 Also referred to as Propositions or Ballot Measures
Indirect (representative democracy)
 Also referred to as a “Republican form of
government” in the Constitution (a Republic)
 The people elect officials to make laws, policies, and
political decisions for them
 Works well in large populations when its impractical to
bring the entire population together
 Not time consuming and creates professional
politicians

Elects Makes Laws

Politicians Policy
People
 Constitutional Democracy
 A system of government in which political authority is
defined, limited, and distributed by a body of
fundamental law called a “Constitution" and the
majority of people have voting power to elect it’s
government officials as outlined in the Constitution.
 Constitutionalism: the idea that there are limits on
the power of government and that these limits can be
defined in a constitution.
Basic Concepts of Democracy
1. Recognition of the fundamental worth and dignity
of every person
2. Respect for the quality of all persons
3. Faith in majority rule and an insistence upon
minority rights
4. Acceptance of the necessity of compromise
5. Insistence upon the widest possible degree of
individual freedom (freedom versus order)
6. Government derives it power and legitimacy from
the people
 Dictatorship
 Autocracy: rule by one
 Oligarchy: rule by few
 All are authoritarian in nature
Theories of Democratic Government
 Who Governs? Who has power and influence
over public policy and the decision making at
the local, state, and national levels of
government?
1. Traditional (Majoritarian) Democratic Theory
2. Pluralist Theory
3. Elite Theory
4.Bureaucratic Theory
5. Hyper-pluralism Theory
Theories of Democratic Government
 Traditional Democratic Theory: the
people have the majority of power and
control the government by electing
officials and representatives (Majoritarian)
 Pluralist Theory: Interest groups
compete for influence over government,
each promoting its own policy preferences
and agenda. Conflict among groups may
result, requiring negotiation, bargaining,
and compromise, nobody dominates
(Robert Dahl)
Theories of Democratic Government
 Elite Theory: A small number of powerful
elite (corporate leaders, top military
officers, government leaders) form an upper
class, which rules in it’s own interest (C.
Wright Mills)
 Bureaucratic Theory: The hierarchical
structure and standardized procedures of
modern governments allow bureaucrats,
who carry out the day-to-day functions and
workings of the government, to hold the
real power over public policy (Max Weber)
Theories of Democratic Government
 Hyper-pluralism theory: Democracy is a system of
many groups having so much strength that government
is often “pulled” in numerous directions at the same
time, causing gridlock and ineffectiveness (negative view,
government is weakened)