LIBERAL-PLURALISM• Key features: • societal power is decentralized, widely shared, diffuse and

fragmented, deriving from many sources, i.e. power pie divided into many pieces

• society consists of many diverse groups and associations (e.g. business, labour, professional, religious, etc…) and constitutes a conglomeration of dissimilar and often conflicting interests, no none of which plays a singularly dominant role, through a process of democratic competition the nature and direction of society are determined

• society is made up of a multitude of conflicting interest groups balanced by the state, groups are equally influential in their impact on government policy and major institutions

LIBERAL-PLURALISM• assumption of a natural balance of power among various groups

which is preserved through bargaining and compromise, win some and lose some, give and take, and thus equilibrium is reached in group struggle

• existence of shared acceptance of basic political framework, i.e. consensus of values, democratic traditions, procedures & principles

• economic and governmental institutions are separate not overlapping power sources

• tension between necessity for strong, modernizing, central coordinator on one hand and a relatively equal distribution of social powers on other reflects cross-pulls of two allegedly functional pre-requisites – need of autonomy and need of integration

LIBERAL-PLURALISM• Role of the state:• Society is a struggle of competing groups within an arena

refereed by the state• State represents institutionalized power and authority• State is supreme guardian of representative democracy in

modern society, from tension paves way for political competition and pluralist democracy

• State serves neither its own interests nor those of any single group or class

• State can act as bargaining agent or mediator

LIBERAL-PLURALISM• Primary task of state is to balance interests of a multitude of

competing groups, represents interests of society as a whole, coordinating the other major institutions OR• Primary function is to promote harmony within system to secure

equilibrium and order OR• to police conflicts of interest

From these roles, state is able to institutionalize its rule and maintain order in society• Separation of governmental power: plurality of competing

governmental agencies, divisions and branches, existence of political parties, thus individuals/groups can have various points of access to decision-makers

LIBERAL-PLURALISM

Role/nature of the individual and of groups:• Individuals with common interests exert influence on

decision-makers by collective action thus average citizens can have meaningful input into decision-making• Political power is distributed over as many citizens

working through their associations as want to take responsibility for power, through the voluntary association the ordinary citizen can acquire as much as power in the community or nation as their free time, ability and inclinations permit them (Arnold Rose)

LIBERAL-PLURALISM• Political process is made up of social groups and policy

outcomes are result of group process, each group being autonomous and democratic

• Potential groups: people who have shared attitudes, unorganized could organize

• Cross cutting group membership: overlapping membership of groups, one individual may have many memberships and each group may have conflicting views on one issue, thus never have one all powerful group agreeing on all issues

In US, pluralism is popular; consider slogans of “government of, by and for the people”, “equality before the law” and “separation of power”

ELITE PLURALISM

• Fuses reality of Elite rule and democratic principles• Meaning of democracy is changed from one of direct popular

rule to that of competition between and within Elites to control the state

• Elites are not single integrated group, multiple centers of political power

• Assumption of balance• Assumption that minority will have influence on Elite• Distrust of mass participation in politics

CRITIQUE OF LIBERAL-PLURALISM

• Pertains to voluntary associations, class bias of interest group activity, inequality of power resources, role of the state, consensus of political values, and democracy• Rationale for status quo, defense of current US political

system, parochial focus, not widely applicable – just to US• Actual versus perceived role of voluntary associations,

simply another level of bureaucracy• US society is not one of joiners, few are members of

voluntary associations, usually the better educated, wealthier and higher social status

CRITIQUE OF LIBERAL-PLURALISM

• Those who are members of voluntary associations, the groups are social, cultural, youth, church or other whose primary interests are not political, and many of these groups lack any democratic control by rank an file and are bureaucratically structured which prevents direct individual participation in decision-making

• Voluntary associations are asymmetrical in the amount of power they wield per member, e.g. union versus business association

CRITIQUE OF LIBERAL-PLURALISM

• Assumption that there is a balance of power among various groups, from religious groups to business groups, and pervasiveness of economic institutions ignored, balance of power as it is favors some and not others

• State is not neutral mediator, rules change, agenda setting occurs

• Assumption of widespread agreement on rules of the game, whose rules and who agrees, what of those who oppose

• Modern version of democracy or perversion of democracy in complex, modern industrialized societies

CRITIQUE OF LIBERAL-PLURALISM

• No concern for minimal participation of masses

• Focus is governmental, public and not including private sector politics, what of Elites in educational sector, corporate sector, communication sector, labour sector, thus picture of societal power is limited

• Pluralists are preoccupied with analyzing formal political institutions, confuses how politics is supposed to work and how it actually works under capitalism