Types of Democracy

I. Defining Democracy

A. The word democracy derives from the Greek words DEMOS (the people) and KRATOS (authority or power). Thus, the word means GOVT BY THE PEOPLE

1. History of Democracy (Wikipedia)

B. Other kinds of systems:

1. Monarchy/dictatorship: rule by one

2. Oligarchy/Aristocracy: rule by the few (rich)

    C. Different Views of Democracy:

1. James Madison's Federalist #10 (an argument for Republican Government)

2. Alexis DeTocqueville's "Democracy in America"

3. Robert Dahl and Pluarlism

4. C. Wright Mills and "the Power Elite"

5. William Domhoff and "Who Rules America?"

D. Kinds of Democracy

1. Direct Democracy: (p. 3) “Government in which citizens come together to discuss and pass laws and select rulers”  *most early Greek city-states had this type of system and most turned into rule by the mob and then dictatorship. This type of democracy became synonymous with democracy generally, hence our Founding Fathers (FFs) desire to avoid this type of system at all costs

2.  Representative Democracy: (p. 3) “ Government that derives its powers indirectly from the people, who elect those who will govern; also called a republic”

3. Constitutional Democracy: (p. 3) “A government in which those who exercise substantial governmental powers do so as the result of winning free and relatively frequent elections and are subject to recognized, enforced limits on the power of all government officials. It is the elections that make the government democratic; it is the recognized and enforced limits on power that make it constitutional”

a. FFs chose this type of system and used the term REPUBLIC as opposed to (direct) democracy, which they disliked

II. Important Components of American-Style Democracy

A. According to our text (pp6-7)), Democracy requires a system of government based on four precepts:

1. Majority Rule expressed in free, periodic and fair elections
2. Full protection of Minority Rights against an irrational or tyrannical majority
3. Protection of Individual Rights to freedom of speech, press, religion, petition, and assembly
4. Equality before the law for all citizens, regardless of race, creed, color, gender, or national origin

***The book (p7) suggests that "these four objectives are, to a degree, in conflict with one another." To what degree is this true? More specifically, how do these rights conflict with each other specifically?***

B. According to another text (J. M. Burns, 2002), the essence of the American system of representative democracy are: personal liberty, respect for the individual, popular consent, free and fair elections, and majority rule, among others

C.  Let’s take a quick look at each component individually

1. Personal Liberty: Obviously, personal liberty is a value Americans prize above all—By liberty, we mean that people should have the freedom to determine their own destinies—where to live, who to marry, where to work and so on. As Burns says NOT simply Freedom from but FREEDOM to…

2. Respect for the Individual (for some great quotes about democracy...not sure if it correlates 100% to the import of individuals though): The idea of democracy rests on the notion that each individual has certain unalienable rights and gifts. In other words, at least on paper if not always in practice, the PERSON is the central measure of value. In other systems—esp. communist ones—the state is central and glorified (Hegel, Marx)

3. Popular Consent: According to the text, an impt principle of the Am Revolution, the Declaration and the new country was this concept, the idea that “a just govt derives its powers from the consent of the governed”

4. Free and Fair Elections: As the Burns text nicely put it, “democratic govt is based on free and fair elections held at intervals frequent enuf to make them relevant to policy choices. Elections are one of the most impt devices for keeping officials and representatives accountable”

5. Majority Rule: this is the idea that when a candidate or party takes more than ½ the vote wins the election (So will of the majority prevails), although in our system the rule is PLURALITY RULE—or a system based on the idea that a candidate or party wins by receiving more votes than the other candidate or party, not necessarily a majority (for example, President Clinton NEVER received a majority = 43% in 1992 and 49% in 1996)