DEMOCRACY AS AN IDEAL
As we noted at the beginning of this chapter, democracy is now so popular that most political ideologies claim to favor it. Yet these supposedly democratic ideologies are in constant competition and occasional conflict with one another. The best explain ation fop this odd situation is to say that different ideologies do indeed pursue and promote democracy, but they do so in different ways because they disagree about what democracy is. They can do this because democracy is not a single thing, as our brief history of democracy makes clear. Rather than a specific kind of government that must take a definite form, democracy is, instead, an ideal.
To say that democracy is an ideal means that it is something toward which people aim or aspire. In this respect it is like true love, inner peace, a perfect performance, or the surfer's perfect wave. Each is an ideal that inspires people to search or strive for it, but none is easy to find, or even to define. What one person takes to be true love, for instance, is likely to be quite different from another person's idea of it. So it is with democracy. Everyone agrees that democracy is government or rule by the people, but exactly what that means is subject to sharp disagreement. Who are "the people" who are supposed to rule? Only the "common" people? Only those who own substantial property? Only adult males? Or should everyone who lives in a country - including resident foreigners, children, and convicted felons-have a formal voice in its government?
How, moreover, are "the people" to rule? Should every citizen vote directly on proposed policies, as the Athenians did, or should citizens vote for representatives,who will then make policy? If they elect representatives, do the people then cease to govern themselves? With or without representatives, should we follow majority rule? If we do, how can we protect the rights and interests of individuals or minorities, especially those who say and do things that anger or disturb the majority? But if we take steps to limit the power of the majority-as a system of constitutional checks and balances does, for instance-aren't we restricting or even retreating from democracy? The recent debate in the United States over term limits for members of Congress poses this problem in a particularly acute form. If we limit the number of terms on elected official can hold office, are we making the government more responsive to the people, and therefore more democratic? Or are we making it less democratic by deriving a potential majority of voters the chance to reelect a representative they like time and time again?
These are troublesome questions for anyone who claims to be a democrat. As our brief history of democracy suggests, they have been answered in very different ways over the centuries. Such questions have also led a number of political thinkers to worry about the instability of democracy,with a particular concern for its supposed tendency to degenerate into anarchy and despotism. This concern has been largely responsible for the creation of an altepnative form of popular government, the republic. But the popularity of republicanism has waned as democracy has gained acceptance, and where it survives it is mostly in the hybrid form of democratic republicanism.
Despite the difficulties of defining it, of democratic ideal of "rule by the people" remains popular. This is due in part to its connection with freedom and equality, since democracy implies that in some sense every citizen will be both free and equal to every other. But exactly what freedom and equality are, or what form they should take, and how the two relate to one another, is open to interpretation.
This is where political ideologies enter the picture. Whether they accept or reject it, all ideologies must one to terms with the democratic ideal."Coming to terms" in this case means that political ideologies have to provide more definite notions of what democracy involves. They do this by drawing on their underlying conceptions of human nature and freedom to determine whether democracy is possible and desirable and, if so, what form it is to take.
To put the point m terms of our functional definition of ideology, we can say that an ideology's explanation of why things are the way they are largely shapes its attitude toward democracy, If an ideology holds, as fascism does, that society is often in turmoil because most people are incapable af governing themselves, it is hardly likely to advocate democracy. But if an ideology holds that most people had the capacity for freedom and self-government, as liberalism and socialism do, then the ideology will embrace the democratic ideal-as matt of them have done. The ideology that does see will then evaluate existing social arrangements and provide a sense of orientation for individuals based largely on how democratic it takes these arrangements to be. If the individual seems to be an equal partner in a society where the people rule in some suitable sense, then all is well; but if he or she seems to be merely the pawn of those who hold the real power, then the ideology will encourage people to take action to reform or perhaps to overthrow the social and political order. This, finally, will require a program for change in what the ideology takes to be a democratic direction.
Every political ideology, then, offers its own interpretation often democratic ideal. This ideal it defines, and may defend or pursue, according to its particular vision. In turn, the men and women who promote political ideologies will use their vision of democracy to try to inspire others to join their cause.
Three Conceptions of Democracy.
To clarify the connection between political ideologies and the democratic ideal, let us examine briefly the three principal versions of democracy in the twentieth century. Although all three share several features, their differences are sharp enough to make them distinctive and competing conceptions of democracy.
Liberal Democracy. As the name suggests, liberal democracy emerged from liberalism--the ideology examined in our next chapter. As with liberalism in general, liberal democracy stresses the rights and liberty of the individual, and it is this form of democracy that characterizes most Western democracies. For liberals, democracy is certainly rule by the people, but an essential part of this rule includes the protection of individual rights and liberties. This means that majority rule must limited. Democracy is rule by the be majority of the people, on this view, but only as long as those in the majority do not try to deprive individuals of their basic civil rights. The right to speak and worship freely, the right to run for public office, the right to own property--these are among the civil rights and liberties that liberals have generally taken to be necessary to realize the democratic ideal as they interpret it.
Social Democracy. Within the Western democracies. especially in Europe, the chief challenger to-the liberal conception is social democracy. This view is linked to the ideology of socialism. From a"social democratic" or "democratic socialist" perspective, the key to democracy is equality, especially equal power in society and government. Social democrats argue that liberal democracy puts poor and working-class people at the mercy of the rich. In the modern world, they say, money is a major source of power, and those who have wealth have power over those who do not. Wealth makes it possible to run for office and to influence government policies, so the rich exercise much greater influence when public policies are made. Yet this advantage, social democrats insist, is hardly democratic. Democracy is rule by the people, and such rule requires that every person have a roughly equal influence over the government. This is in keeping with the slogan, "one person one vote." But we will not really have this equal influence, social democrats say, unless we take steps to distribute power--including economic power-in a more nearly equal fashion. This is why the program of social democrats typically calls for the redistribution of wealth to promote equality, public rather than private control of natural resources and major industries, and workers control of the workplace. Like liberals, then, social democrats want to preserve civil liberties and competition for political office. Unlike liberals, however they deny that most people can be truly free or political competition ever, fair when great inequalities of wealth and power prevail.
People's Democracy. In communist countries, the prevailing version of the democratic ideal has been people's democracy. In some ways people's democracy is closer the original Greek idea of democracy-rule by and in to the interests of demos, the common people--than liberal or social the democracy. From a communist perspective, the common people are the proletariat, or the working class, and democracy will not be achieved until government rules in their interest. This does not necessarily mean that the proletariat must itself directly control the government. As we shall see in Chapter 6, communists used to call for the revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat, a form of dictatorship that Marx described as ruling in the interests of the working class. The immediate purpose of this would be to suppress the capitalists or bourgeoisie who have used their power previously and wealth to exploit the working class. By suppressing them, the dictatorship of the proletariat supposedly prepares the common people for classless society of the communist future, when the state itsel will "wither away." In the meantime, people's democracy is to consist of rule by the Communist Party for the good of the working majority. This is the sense in which Mao Zedong spoke of a"people's democratic dictatorship" in the People's Repub
DEMOCRACY AS AN IDEAL
As we noted at the beginning of this chapter, democracy is now so popular that most political ideologies claim to favor it. Yet these supposedly democratic ideologies are in constant competition and occasional conflict with one another. The best explain ation fop this odd situation is to say that different ideologies do indeed pursue and promote democracy, but they do so in different ways because they disagree about what democracy is. They can do this because democracy is not a single thing, as our brief history of democracy makes clear. Rather than a specific kind of government that must take a definite form, democracy is, instead, an ideal.
To say that democracy is an ideal means that it is something toward which people aim or aspire. In this respect it is like true love, inner peace, a perfect performance, or the surfer's perfect wave. Each is an ideal that inspires people to search or strive for it, but none is easy to find, or even to define. What one person takes to be true love, for instance, is likely to be quite different from another person's idea of it. So it is with democracy. Everyone agrees that democracy is government or rule by the people, but exactly what that means is subject to sharp disagreement. Who are "the people" who are supposed to rule? Only the "common" people? Only those who own substantial property? Only adult males? Or should everyone who lives in a country - including resident foreigners, children, and convicted felons-have a formal voice in its government?
How, moreover, are "the people" to rule? Should every citizen vote directly on proposed policies, as the Athenians did, or should citizens vote for representatives,who will then make policy? If they elect representatives, do the people then cease to govern themselves? With or without representatives, should we follow majority rule? If we do, how can we protect the rights and interests of individuals or minorities, especially those who say and do things that anger or disturb the majority? But if we take steps to limit the power of the majority-as a system of constitutional checks and balances does, for instance-aren't we restricting or even retreating from democracy? The recent debate in the United States over term limits for members of Congress poses this problem in a particularly acute form. If we limit the number of terms on elected official can hold office, are we making the government more responsive to the people, and therefore more democratic? Or are we making it less democratic by deriving a potential majority of voters the chance to reelect a representative they like time and time again?
These are troublesome questions for anyone who claims to be a democrat. As our brief history of democracy suggests, they have been answered in very different ways over the centuries. Such questions have also led a number of political thinkers to worry about the instability of democracy,with a particular concern for its supposed tendency to degenerate into anarchy and despotism. This concern has been largely responsible for the creation of an altepnative form of popular government, the republic. But the popularity of republicanism has waned as democracy has gained acceptance, and where it survives it is mostly in the hybrid form of democratic republicanism.
Despite the difficulties of defining it, of democratic ideal of "rule by the people" remains popular. This is due in part to its connection with freedom and equality, since democracy implies that in some sense every citizen will be both free and equal to every other. But exactly what freedom and equality are, or what form they should take, and how the two relate to one another, is open to interpretation.
This is where political ideologies enter the picture. Whether they accept or reject it, all ideologies must one to terms with the democratic ideal."Coming to terms" in this case means that political ideologies have to provide more definite notions of what democracy involves. They do this by drawing on their underlying conceptions of human nature and freedom to determine whether democracy is possible and desirable and, if so, what form it is to take.
To put the point m terms of our functional definition of ideology, we can say that an ideology's explanation of why things are the way they are largely shapes its attitude toward democracy, If an ideology holds, as fascism does, that society is often in turmoil because most people are incapable af governing themselves, it is hardly likely to advocate democracy. But if an ideology holds that most people had the capacity for freedom and self-government, as liberalism and socialism do, then the ideology will embrace the democratic ideal-as matt of them have done. The ideology that does see will then evaluate existing social arrangements and provide a sense of orientation for individuals based largely on how democratic it takes these arrangements to be. If the individual seems to be an equal partner in a society where the people rule in some suitable sense, then all is well; but if he or she seems to be merely the pawn of those who hold the real power, then the ideology will encourage people to take action to reform or perhaps to overthrow the social and political order. This, finally, will require a program for change in what the ideology takes to be a democratic direction.
Every political ideology, then, offers its own interpretation often democratic ideal. This ideal it defines, and may defend or pursue, according to its particular vision. In turn, the men and women who promote political ideologies will use their vision of democracy to try to inspire others to join their cause.
Three Conceptions of Democracy.
To clarify the connection between political ideologies and the democratic ideal, let us examine briefly the three principal versions of democracy in the twentieth century. Although all three share several features, their differences are sharp enough to make them distinctive and competing conceptions of democracy.
Liberal Democracy. As the name suggests, liberal democracy emerged from liberalism--the ideology examined in our next chapter. As with liberalism in general, liberal democracy stresses the rights and liberty of the individual, and it is this form of democracy that characterizes most Western democracies. For liberals, democracy is certainly rule by the people, but an essential part of this rule includes the protection of individual rights and liberties. This means that majority rule must limited. Democracy is rule by the be majority of the people, on this view, but only as long as those in the majority do not try to deprive individuals of their basic civil rights. The right to speak and worship freely, the right to run for public office, the right to own property--these are among the civil rights and liberties that liberals have generally taken to be necessary to realize the democratic ideal as they interpret it.
Social Democracy. Within the Western democracies. especially in Europe, the chief challenger to-the liberal conception is social democracy. This view is linked to the ideology of socialism. From a"social democratic" or "democratic socialist" perspective, the key to democracy is equality, especially equal power in society and government. Social democrats argue that liberal democracy puts poor and working-class people at the mercy of the rich. In the modern world, they say, money is a major source of power, and those who have wealth have power over those who do not. Wealth makes it possible to run for office and to influence government policies, so the rich exercise much greater influence when public policies are made. Yet this advantage, social democrats insist, is hardly democratic. Democracy is rule by the people, and such rule requires that every person have a roughly equal influence over the government. This is in keeping with the slogan, "one person one vote." But we will not really have this equal influence, social democrats say, unless we take steps to distribute power--including economic power-in a more nearly equal fashion. This is why the program of social democrats typically calls for the redistribution of wealth to promote equality, public rather than private control of natural resources and major industries, and workers control of the workplace. Like liberals, then, social democrats want to preserve civil liberties and competition for political office. Unlike liberals, however they deny that most people can be truly free or political competition ever, fair when great inequalities of wealth and power prevail.
People's Democracy. In communist countries, the prevailing version of the democratic ideal has been people's democracy. In some ways people's democracy is closer the original Greek idea of democracy-rule by and in to the interests of demos, the common people--than liberal or social the democracy. From a communist perspective, the common people are the proletariat, or the working class, and democracy will not be achieved until government rules in their interest. This does not necessarily mean that the proletariat must itself directly control the government. As we shall see in Chapter 6, communists used to call for the revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat, a form of dictatorship that Marx described as ruling in the interests of the working class. The immediate purpose of this would be to suppress the capitalists or bourgeoisie who have used their power previously and wealth to exploit the working class. By suppressing them, the dictatorship of the proletariat supposedly prepares the common people for classless society of the communist future, when the state itsel will "wither away." In the meantime, people's democracy is to consist of rule by the Communist Party for the good of the working majority. This is the sense in which Mao Zedong spoke of a"people's democratic dictatorship" in the People's Repub
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