__

D __
E __
M __
O __
C __
R __ __ Y
A C __
DEMOCRACY and
LEGITIMACY
 Two Paths of Political Organization (State)
(O’Neil)

Consensus:
Individuals band
together to protect
Democratic
themselves and create
Rule
common rules;
leadership is chosen
from among people
 Paths of Political Organization
(O’Neil)
2
Coercion:
Individuals are
brought together by a
ruler, who imposes Authoritarian
authority and Rule
monopolizes power.
Security through
domination
What do we associate
with democracy?
• people, rule by many, popular
sovereignty, representation

• rules, limits, laws, rule of law

• rights, freedom, statue of liberty,
Bill of Rights

• elections, ballots, consent,

legitimacy
 Legitimacy

• broadly means rightfulness

• the grounds on which governments may
demand obedience from citizens
• Why do people obey a particular state?
Legitimacy- as a sociological phenomenon

3 Types of Authority
(Weber)

• Traditional
• Charismatic
• Rational-legal
How do you link legitimacy to democracy?
What is democracy?
Models of Democracy
Democracy in Practice
In defining democracy

• a system of rule by the poor and the disadvantaged

• a form of government in which the people rule

directly and continuously

• a society based on equal opportunity and individual

merit, rather than hierarchy and privilege

• a system of welfare and redistribution aimed at

narrowing inequalities

• a system of decision-making based on the principle

of majority rule
 other meanings:
• a system of rule that secures the rights
and interests of minorities by placing
checks upon the power of the majority

• a means of filling public offices through

a competitive struggle for the popular
vote

• a system of government that serves the

interests of the people regardless of
their participation
Gettysburg Address
(Abraham Lincoln, Nov. 19, 1863)

“...that this nation under God shall

have a new birth of freedom, and that
government of the people, by the
people, for the people shall not perish
from the earth.”
 Who are the people?

• Ancient Greek view (exclusive

citizenship)

• Modern view (adult citizens; the

general will rather than particular
will; the majority; cosmopolitan
democracy)
 How should the
people rule?
“government by the people”:

•Ancient Greek democracy: Direct

Democracy

•Modern: Representative Democracy

“government for the people”:

•totalitarian democracy (plebiscitary

democracy)
 How far should popular rule
extend?
(government for the people)

• What is the proper realm of democracy?

(public-private sphere)
• Disagreements ( depends on view of
politics and ideology)
Models of Democracy
“competing liberal views of democratic organization”

• Classical democracy (Ancient Greek or

Athenian democracy)
• Protective democracy (17th-18thC- “Lockean
democracy”: democracy for the protection of
the people from the encroachments of
government; a government by consent
(representative assembly); however only the
propertied could vote)
 Models of Democracy
“competing liberal views of democratic organization”

• Developmental Democracy (18th-19thC:

Rousseauist: “obedience to a law one prescribes
to oneself” or “obedience to the general will” );
this requires political equality and economic
equality; shaped the idea of “participatory
democracy”;
JSMill: broader popular participation- inclusive
citizenship with the exception of those who are
illiterate- “a deliberative democracy”
Models of Democracy
“competing liberal views of democratic organization”

• People’s democracy- Marxist-inspired

democracies; against the
capitalist/bourgeois democracy; social
equality, more than political equality; 20th
C: Leninist-inspired democracy- power to
the Communist party (the vanguard of the
working class)
 The Western Model (Sodaro)
Liberal Democratic model (Constitutional liberalism)

imited y
L rac
o c Gove
dem r
limit nment w
ed it
secur powers h
e to
nal right individu
ti tu t io s and al
Cons liber
ties
acy
democr

Economic Well-being
Popular sovereignty

Rights & Liberties

3 Fu
Dem nction
s
Gov ocratic of
er n
men
ts

L aw
Rule of
r a ti c Values
FOUNDATIONS Democ
 Features of a Liberal
Democracy (Heywood)
• indirect and representative democracy
guaranteed through regular elections
founded on political equality
• based on competition and electoral choice
through pluralism and the existence of
opposition
• distinguishes between the state and civil
society
 Theories of Liberal
Democracy
• Pluralism (Madisonian democracy-”rule by multiple minorities”;
Dahl- rule by the many or “polyarchy” -party competition and
articulation of interests)
• Elitism (Classical elite models of Pareto, Mosca and Michels: elite
rule, rule by the privileged minority; Coherent elite model of C.
Wright Mills: “power elite model”; Schumpeter’s Competitive or
democratic elitism-elite rivalry- fractured elite model)
• Corporatism (integration of economic interests into government; a
design to secure the cooperation and support of major economic
interests; makes possible “functional representation”- major
groups compete to shape government policy)
 Theories of Liberal
Democracy
• New Right (advocates the free market;
protective democracy- a defense against
arbitrary government)
• Marxism (rooted in class analysis;power is
concentrated in the hands of a few-the ruling
class; liberal democracy as as capitalist or
bourgeois democracy; difference(s) between
the elitist and the Marxist view of liberal
democracy?)
 Cosmopolitan
democracy?

• requires the construction of a world

parliament
• or through a reform of existing international
organizations