Yet does this mean that democratic criteria can be satisfied only by the full set of political institutions of polyarchal democracy descried in the last chapter? Not necessarily.
The institutions of polyarchal democracy are necessary for democratizing the government of the state in a large-scale system, specifically a country. But they might be unnecessary or downright unsuitable for democracy in units on a smaller (or larger?) scale, or in smaller associations that are independent of the state and help to make up civil society. (More on this in a moment.)