The Main Ideas of a Pluralist Model in a Political Process - Essay Example

Main ideas of a pluralist model in a political process “According to the pluralist model, power is exercised by the mass of the population, rather than by a small elite group” (Pluralism). Because of the above belief pluralism supports a government elected by majority of the people. In countries like China, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Libya etc, instead of elected governments, totalitarian governments are functioning whereas in countries like America, India, Britain etc elected democratic governments are functioning. In other words in countries with democratic administration, public have the authority to exercise their power through the governments. In the elections, voters will support only those political parties which stand for their ideologies and beliefs. Pluralism believes that politics and decision making processes are some of the duties of a government. Pluralists believe that no other entities like religion or judiciary has any role in politics or decision making even though such entities may have its own role in other matters. This paper analyses the main ideas pluralist model in a political process. Pluralists note that if a majority of people do not like what their representatives are doing, they can vote them out of office at the next election. Representatives, therefore, have to act in a way that is pleasing to the majority. They consider voting to be of only irregular significance. General elections occur periodically and individuals are asked to vote for packages of policies put together by political parties. Therefore, voters do not have an opportunity to wield influence on the specific issues that concern them; so pluralists claim that people are able to exercise power between elections by joining interest groups - such as political parties, trade unions and other pressure groups. Group activity, they argue, is vital to the successful functioning of the political system (Pluralism) It is practically difficult to allow an elected government to function only for a short time period because of the huge expenses needed for general elections. Tax payer’s money used for conducting elections and if the elections happen in every year, the public will suffer a lot. Because of the above awareness, elections usually held in democratic countries only in every four or five years. In other words an elected government need not worry much about the public support or influence for four or five years. They can function as they like during their four or five year term if they have majority support in the parliament. In other words, public forced to wait for four or five years to defeat the government, if it functions against the will of them. It is not a good practice in a parliamentary democracy. So, public tries to exercise their power or influence on government through other nongovernmental groups such as political parties, pressure groups, interest groups, trade union etc. Trade union strikes or public agitations are happening in most of the democratic countries in order to exert pressure or power on the governments. In India like democratic countries, people often conduct huge protests whenever the government tries to impose certain policies against them. For example, India government recently increased the petrol and cooking gas prices because of the increase in crude oil prices in global market. Public forced to conduct several agitations against the government and succeeded in reducing the prices up to certain extent. Opposition political parties often join public when they conduct agitations against the government in order to increase their public support. “Interest group leaders have more knowledge regarding the inner workings of government than ordinary citizens and therefore are able to channel democratic voices to the politicians in power more effectively” (Pluralist Model). In short, group activity is vital in controlling a government according to the principles of pluralism. The role of the government in a Pluralist Democracy is to protect and promote diversity. This theory deems human nature selfish and acquisitive. Early political scientists questioned whether it was possible for a Developmental Democracy to exist. They noted that, while some are interested, most people are apathetic toward politics. Party leaders and politicians handle the day-to-day affairs of the government and not all citizens can influence them equally. Power, according to this theory, drifts into the hands of a few people. This is known as the "iron law of oligarchy" (Pluralist Model). In most of the pluralist democratic countries, governments try to promote diversity. For example America is democratic country dominated by Christians whereas India is a democratic country dominated by Hindus. In both these countries, other religions enjoy the same rights as the majorities enjoy. In fact in India, special protection and rights were provided to minorities by the constitution in order to raise their standards to the levels of the majorities. It should be noted that in these countries, people can believe in any religion and they can also spread their religion. However, in countries like China religion is a prohibited entity whereas in Saudi Arabia, non-Muslims face lot of discriminations and human right violations. It is impossible for the public to protest against such inhuman activities by the governments in those countries. In pluralist democratic countries, there may be some inequalities; however the public have the right to point out such mistakes to the government. Pluralism believes that power in not a physical entity and it should not be allowed to center around individuals or some people. Power should be transferred from one group to another through different sources in order to ensure good governance. For example, in India and America like pluralist democratic countries, apart from the central government, lot of state, district and local body governments are or agencies are functioning in order to distribute the power to all the people. In fact people enjoy power only because of their voting rights. In fact voting right is the resource which helps the public to enjoy power. Politicians are afraid of the public only at the time of elections. On the other hand politicians or the government controls enormous amount of resources and therefore they enjoy more power than the public. During the post Stalin era, especially at the time of Breshnev, Soviet Union witnessed the emergence of some interest groups. Many political analysts referred that development as a departure from totalitarian model and the entry of a pluralist model. Before Breshnev, Soviet Union was controlled by one man army whereas during the post Stalin era, the power in Soviet Union started to rotate around a group of people. Moreover, policy formulations and decision making started to function in Soviet Union in a similar fashion as that in a pluralistic society during this era. “The main distinction was in the type of interest groups: in the West they were mostly voluntary public associations, whereas in the USSR they were represented by institutional structures formed within the system”(Chubarov) In pluralist theory, democracy is viewed as a marketplace with more or less perfect competition. Various perspectives are represented by individuals, political parties, and interest groups which compete for influence over policy domains. The pluralist model is based on four premises: it assumes equal access to the policy-making arena, fragmentation of the marketplace, a competitive process for the determining policies, and the neutrality of government. These theoretical conditions form a system in which everyone is free to organize for political purposes, and in which the policy-making process is not monopolized by powerful political forces (Interest Groups and Political Systems) Competition can be witnessed in all segments of human life in a pluralist model of governance. People are free to utilize their abilities to attain more power and resources in such societies. Everything is determined based on majority in a pluralist society. For example, in America or in India, neither the president nor the prime minister can issue an order which was not approved by the parliament. It is the duty of the prime minister or the president to gather support for the policies he/she is intending to implement in the country. Even though pluralist model has more advantages than disadvantages, it is a fact that the interests of the poor people often been sacrificed in countries where pluralist model prevails. It is difficult for poor people to exert more pressure on the government because of lack of resources. On the other hand, rich people may have more resources and therefore they can exert more power on the governments. For example, in American Congress, each congressman is trying to safeguard the interests of the lobbyists who supported them financially during their election campaigns. Congressmen who accepted huge amount of money from big organizations or interests groups may try to safeguard their interests more than that of the interests of the poor people. “A definite disadvantage of cultural pluralism is that it could lead to increased stereotyping and prejudice. By emphasizing differences, some people will choose to develop a prejudice to the differences rather than celebrate them”(Powell) To conclude, the main idea of pluralism is exerting pressure or influence on government in one way or other. Usually, in a pluralist model, people try to control the government with the help of interest groups such as political parties, trade unions, interest groups etc. However, the major responsibility of administration and decision making lies on the government in a pluralist model. Works Cited 1. Chubarov, Alex. “The Pluralist Model”. Web.18 July 2011. 2. “Interest Groups and Political Systems”. Web.18 July 2011. 3. “Pluralism”. Web.18 July 2011. 4. “Pluralist Model”. Web.18 July 2011. 5. Powell, Jack. “Advantages & Disadvantages of Cultural Pluralism”. 2011. Web.18 July 2011. Read More