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Plural
Theory
Core
idea: Individual democratic rights are protected in a system of
group competition.
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1) Although individuals do
not participate directly in decision making, their many leaders do
make decisions through a process of bargaining, accommodation, and
compromise.
2) There is competition among leadership groups that helps to
protect the interests of individuals. Countervailing centers of
power can check each other and keep each interest from abusing its
power and oppressing the individual.
3) Individuals can influence public policy by choosing among
competing elites in elections. Elections and political parties
allow individuals to hold leaders accountable for their actions.
4) Although individuals do not participate directly in
decisionmaking, they can join organized groups and exert influence
by participating in them.
5) Leadership groups are not closed; new groups can be formed and
gain access to the political system.
6) Although political influence in society is inequitably
distributed, power is widely dispersed. Access to decisionmaking
is often determined by how much interest people have in a
particular decision. And because leadership is fluid and mobile,
power depends upon one's interest in public affairs, skills in
leadership, information about issues, knowledge of democratic
processes, and skill in organization and public relations.
7) There are multiple leadership groups in society. Those who
exercise power in one kind of decision do not necessarily exercise
power in others. No single elite dominates decisionmaking in all
areas.
8) Public policy is not necessarily majority preference, but it is
an equilibrium of interest interaction--that is, competing
interest group influences are more or less balanced and the
resultant policy is a reasonable approximation of the public
interest. |
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