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Pluralism (political philosophy)

This article is about pluralism in politics. For other uses see Pluralism

Pluralism is, in the general sense, the affirmation and acceptance of diversity. The concept is used, often in different ways, in a wide range of issues. In politics, the affirmation of diversity in the interests and beliefs of the citizenry, and so political pluralism is one of the most important features of modern democracy. Psephology is a term for the statistical study of elections. ... Although highly controversial at various points in history, representative democracy (and electoral systems in general) have become the modern civics global-standard. ... Electoral fraud is illegal interference with the process of an election. ... A show election or a sham election is an election that is held purely for show, that is, without any significant political purpose. ... A general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are up for election. ... Rules for, and experience with, local elections vary widely across jurisdictions. ... A by-election or bye-election is a special election held to fill a political office when the incumbent has died or resigned. ... A Fixed-term election is an election that occurs on a set date, and cannot be changed by the incumbent politician. ... Indirect election is a process in which voters in an election do not actually choose between candidates for an office but rather elect persons who will then make the choice. ... The Polling by William Hogarth (1755); Before the secret ballot was introduced voter intimidation was commonplace Wikisource has original text related to this article: A History of the Australian Ballot System in the United States The secret ballot is a voting method in which a voters choices are confidential. ... Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Pluralism Pluralism is, in the general sense, the affirmation and acceptance of diversity. ... Elections by country gives information on elections. ... This electoral calendar lists the national/federal direct elections in the countries listed in the list of countries. ... Ballots of the Argentine plebiscite of 1984 on the border treaty with Chile A referendum (plural: referendums or referenda) or plebiscite (from Latin plebiscita, originally a decree of the Concilium Plebis) is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. ... A referendum (plural: referendums or referenda) or plebiscite is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. ... The process known as redistricting in the United States and redistribution in many Commonwealth countries is the changing of political borders (in many countries, specifically the electoral district/constituency boundaries) usually in response to periodic census results. ... Gerrymandering is a controversial form of redistricting in which electoral district or constituency boundaries are manipulated for an electoral advantage. ... // Political scientists have developed concepts of different ideal types of political parties in order to better compare them with each other. ... Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Pluralism Pluralism is, in the general sense, the affirmation and acceptance of diversity. ... Diversity is the presence of a wide range of variation in the qualities or attributes under discussion. ... Politics is the process by which groups make decisions. ...

The term pluralism is also used to denote a theoretical standpoint on state and power - which to varying degrees suggest that pluralism is an adequate model of how power is distributed in societies. For information on the political theory of pluralism see Pluralism (political theory).

In democratic politics, pluralism is a guiding principle which permits the peaceful coexistence of different interests, convictions and lifestyles. In this context it has normative connotations absence from its use to denote a theoretical standpoint. Unlike totalitarianism or particularism, pluralism acknowledges the diversity of interests and considers it imperative that members of society accommodate their differences by engaging in good-faith negotiation. Democracy (literally rule by the people, from the Greek δημοκρατία-demokratia demos, people, and kratos, rule) is a form of government. ... Politics is the process by which groups make decisions. ... A principle (not principal) is something, usually a rule or norm, that is part of the basis for something else. ... In philosophy, normative is usually contrasted with positive, descriptive or explanatory when describing types of theories, beliefs, or statements. ... Totalitarianism is a term employed by political scientists, especially those in the field of comparative politics, to describe modern regimes in which the state regulates nearly every aspect of public and private behavior. ... Particularism is exclusive devotion to ones own groups interests. ...

One of the earliest arguments for pluralism came from James Madison in The Federalist Papers 10. Madison feared that faction would lead to in-fighting in the new American republic and devotes this paper to questioning how best to avoid such an occurrence. He posits that to avoid faction, it is best to allow many competing factions to prevent any one dominating the political system. This relies, to a degree, on a series of disturbances changing the influences of groups so as to avoid institutional dominance and ensure competition. James Madison (March 16, 1751 – June 28, 1836), an American politician and fourth President of the United States of America (1809–1817), was one of the most influential Founders of the United States. ... Title page of an early Federalist compilation. ... A political system is a social system of politics and government. ...

Pluralism and the common good

Pluralism is connected with the hope that this process of conflict and dialogue will lead to a definition and subsequent realization of the common good that is best for all members of society. This implies that in a pluralistic framework, the common good is not given A priori. Instead, the scope and content of the common good can only be found out in and after the process of negotiation (a posteriori). Conflict is a state of opposition, disagreement or incompatibility between two or more people or groups of people, which is sometimes characterized by physical violence. ... This article belongs in one or more categories. ... The common good is a term that can refer to several different concepts. ... The terms a priori and a posteriori are used in philosophy to distinguish between two different types of propositional knowledge. ... A Posteriori is the title of the musical project Enigmas sixth studio album, released in September 2006. ...

Consequently, the common good does not, according to pluralists, coincide with the position of any one cohesive group or organization. However, a necessary outcome of this philosophy is that the beliefs of any particular group cannot represent absolute truth. Therefore any group with a philosophy that purports to hold both absolute truth and identify the common good is wrong - their belief system is irrelevant and cannot represent truth that impacts on others who do not hold to the given belief system. In philosophy, a proposition is said to have universality if it can be conceived as being true in all possible contexts without creating a contradiction. ...

Still, one group may eventually manage to establish its own view as the generally accepted view, but only as the result of the negotiation process within the pluralistic framework. This implies that, as a general rule, the "operator" of a truly pluralistic framework, i.e. the state in a pluralistic society, must not be biased: it may not take sides with any one group, give undue privileges to one group and discriminate against another one. For other senses of this word, see bias (disambiguation). ...

Proponents of pluralism argue that this negotiation process is the best way to achieve the common good: since everyone can participate in power and decision-making (and can claim part of the ownership of the results of exercising power) there can also be widespread participation and a greater feeling of commitment from society members, and therefore better outcomes. By contrast, an authoritarian or oligarchic society, where power is concentrated and decisions are made by few members, forestalls this possibility. Bold text:This article applies to political ideologies. ... Oligarchy (Greek , Oligarkhía) is a form of government where political power effectively rests with a small, elite segment of society (whether distinguished by wealth, family or military prowess). ... Political power (imperium in Latin) is a type of power held by a person or group in a society. ...

Proponents in contemporary political philosophy of such a view include Isaiah Berlin, Stuart Hampshire and Bernard Williams. An earlier version of political pluralism was a strong current in the formation of modern social democracy, with theorists such as Harold Laski and G. D. H. Cole, as well as other leading members of the British Fabian Society. Horace Kallen coined the term cultural pluralism to express the condition of a democratic nation which sustained, and was sustained by, many cultural traditions. Sir Isaiah Berlin, OM, (June 6, 1909 – November 5, 1997) was a political philosopher and historian of ideas, regarded as one of the leading liberal thinkers of the 20th century. ... Sir Stuart Newton Hampshire (October 1, 1914 - June 13, 2004) was an Oxford University philosopher, literary critic and university administrator. ... Sir Bernard Arthur Owen Williams (September 21, 1929 – June 10, 2003) was a British philosopher, cited as the most important British moral philosopher of his time. ... Social democracy is a political ideology emerging in the late 19th and early 20th centuries from supporters of Marxism who believed that the transition to a socialist society could be achieved through democratic evolutionary rather than revolutionary means. ... Harold Joseph Laski (Manchester, June 30, 1893 – March 24, 1950 in London) was an English political theorist, economist, author, and lecturer, and served as the 1945-1946 chairman of the Labour Party. ... George Douglas Howard Cole (September 25, 1889 - January 14, 1959) was an English journalist and economist, closely associated with the development of Fabianism. ... The Fabian Society is a British socialist intellectual movement, whose purpose is to advance the socialist cause by reformist, rather than revolutionary, means. ... Horace Meyer Kallen (1882-1974) was a Jewish-American philosopher. ... Main articles: Pluralism and Multiculturalism Cultural pluralism exists when all groups within a larger society maintain their unique cultural identities. ...

Note, however, that political philosophers such as Charles Blattberg have argued that negotiation can at best compromise rather than realise the common good. Doing the latter is said to require engaging in "conversation" instead, room for which is made within what Blattberg calls a patriotic, as distinct from pluralist, politics. Charles Blattberg Charles Blattberg (born 1967 in Toronto, Canada) is a professor of political philosophy at the Université de Montréal. ...

Conditions for pluralism

For pluralism to function and to be successful in defining the common good, all groups have to agree to a minimal consensus regarding shared values, which tie the different groups to society, and shared rules for conflict resolution between the groups: Conflict resolution or conflictology is the process of attempting to resolve a dispute or a conflict. ...

The most important value is that of mutual respect and tolerance, so that different groups can coexist and interact without anyone being forced to assimilate to anyone else's position in conflicts that will naturally arise out of diverging interests and positions. These conflicts can only be resolved durably by dialogue which leads to compromise and to mutual understanding. Respect is the deference shown to, or the acknowledgment of the perceived worth of a position, person, title, right or priviledge. ... It has been suggested that toleration be merged into this article or section. ... In the social sciences, assimilation is the process of integration whereby immigrants, or other minority groups, are absorbed into a generally larger community. ... This article belongs in one or more categories. ... Look up Compromise in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Examples of misapplied pluralism include multiculturalism, cultural relativism, anarcho-capitalism, and post-modernism. Pluralism's tolerance for difference, its fostering of diversity, its promotion of different individuals' pursuit of variable modes of life and their expression of different cultural values does not conflate all cultures as more or less equal (multiculturalism), nor is it indifferent to some cultural differences that are unacceptable to social standards of decency, e.g., genital mutilation (cultural relativism), nor is its without cognizance of the need for social institutions to provide "space" for diversity to meet minimum standards of decency and order (anarcho-capitalism), nor is it silent or uncritical of inferior standards and values (post-modernism), but engages different social and personal values in a critical, but respectful, dialectic of reciprocal evaluation. Coercive action is used only when another mode of life or cultural expression causes harm, otherwise it engages in a dialogue of critical evaluation of different modes and expressions through persuasion. Unlike many of the misapplications, pluralism's tolerance is intolerant of intolerance (which is self-defeating and anti-pluralistic). Multiculturalism is an ideology advocating that society should consist of, or at least allow and include, distinct cultural groups, with equal status. ... Cultural relativism is the principle that an individual humans beliefs and activities should be interpreted in terms of his or her own culture. ... Anarcho-capitalism refers to an anti-statist philosophy that embraces capitalism as one of its foundational principles. ... Postmodernism (sometimes abbreviated pomo) is a term applied to a wide-ranging set of developments in critical theory, philosophy, architecture, art, literature, and culture, which are generally characterized as either emerging from, in reaction to, or superseding, modernism. ... Genital modification and genital mutilation both can refer to permanent or temporary changes to the human genitals. ... Compare Moral relativism, Aesthetic relativism, Social constructionism and Cultural relativism. ...

To illustrate, anarcho-capitalism takes self-ownership as a shared a priori value. Derived from this come the principles of non-aggression and private property. To resolve conflicts over the use of property, both-benefit voluntary trade is conducted according to subjective theory of value. From the single shared value of self-ownership, voluntary trade thus enables individuals with differing values to resolve conflicts without resorting to violence. Self-ownership (aka the soveriegnty of the individual or individual sovereignty) is the condition where an individual has the exclusive moral right to control his or her own body and life. ... The non-aggression principle (also called the non-aggression axiom, anticoercion principle, or zero aggression principle) is a deontological ethical stance associated with the libertarian movement. ... The labor theory of property holds that property originally comes about by the exertion of labor upon natural resources. ... Adam Smith An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations is the magnum opus of the Scottish economist Adam Smith, published on March 9, 1776 during the Scottish Enlightenment. ... Economic subjectivism is the theory that value is a feature of the appraiser and not of the thing being valued. ...

Pluralism and subsidiarity

However, the necessary consensus on rules and values should not unnecessarily limit different groups and individuals within society in their value decisions. According to the principle of subsidiarity, everything that need not be regulated within the general framework should be left to decide for subordinate groups and, in turn, to individuals so as to guarantee them a maximum amount of freedom. Subsidiarity is the idea that matters should be handled by the smallest (or, the lowest) competent authority. ...

In ultimate consequence, pluralism thus also implies the right for individuals to determine values and truths for themselves instead of being forced to follow the whole of society or, indeed, their own group. Value is a term that expresses the concept of worth in general, and it is thought to be connected to reasons for certain practices, policies or actions. ... For other uses, see Truth (disambiguation). ...

See also

• Polyarchy
• List of democracy and elections-related topics
• Liberal democracy
• Particularism
• The political theory of pluralism

Polyarchy (Greek: poly many, arkhe rule) has long been used to mean the opposite of monarchy, i. ... Politics is the process and method of gaining or maintaining support for public or common action: the conduct of decision-making for groups. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Particularism is exclusive devotion to ones own groups interests. ...

References

In epistemology and ontology: This article does not cite its references or sources. ... In philosophy, ontology (from the Greek , genitive : of being (part. ...

• A Pluralistic Universe, James, William (1909).

In political philosophy and ethics: For other people named William James see William James (disambiguation) William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was a pioneering American psychologist and philosopher. ... The Politics series Politics Portal This box:      Political philosophy is the study of fundamental questions about the state, government, politics, liberty, justice, property, rights, law and the enforcement of a legal code by authority: what they are, why (or even if) they are needed, what makes a government legitimate, what... Ethics (from the Ancient Greek ἠθικός (ethikos), meaning theory of living), a major branch of philosophy, is the study of values and customs of a person or group and covers the analysis and employment of concepts such as right, wrong, good, evil, and responsibility. ...

• Morality and Conflict, Hampshire, Stuart (1983).
• From Pluralist to Patriotic Politics, Blattberg, Charles (2000).
• Liberty, Berlin, Isaiah (2002).
• In the Beginning Was the Deed, Williams, Bernard (2005).
• On legal pluralism and communities, see: Gad Barzilai, Communities and Law: Politics and Cultures of Legal Identities. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2003.

Charles Blattberg Charles Blattberg (born 1967 in Toronto, Canada) is a professor of political philosophy at the Université de Montréal. ... Sir Isaiah Berlin, OM, (June 6, 1909 – November 5, 1997) was a political philosopher and historian of ideas, regarded as one of the leading liberal thinkers of the 20th century. ... For other persons named Bernard Williams, see Bernard Williams (disambiguation). ...

External links

• Global Centre for Pluralism
• The Pluralism Project at Harvard University