In modern political science, the term Polyarchy (Greek: poly many, arkhe rule)^[1] was introduced by Robert A. Dahl, now emeritus professor at Yale University, to describe a form of government that was first implemented in the United States and gradually adopted by many other countries. According to Dahl, the fundamental democratic principle is that, when it comes to binding collective decisions, each person in a political community is entitled to have his interests be given equal consideration. A polyarchy is a nation-state that has certain procedures that are necessary conditions for following the democratic principle.[1][2] Robert Alan Dahl (b. ... The meaning of the word professor (Latin: [1]) varies. ... Yale redirects here. ... GOVERNEMENT IS NOT A VIRGIN! Its F***ed Up We Pray To god that he give virginity back Forms of government Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      A form of government is a term that refers to the set of political institutions by which a state...

Definitions

Dahl's original theory of Polyarchal Democracy is in his 1956 book, A Preface to Democratic Theory. His theory evolved over the decades, and the description in later writings is somewhat different.the many forms of government

A Preface to Democratic Theory

In this book, Dahl gives eight conditions, which measure the extent to which majority rule is in effect in an organization. These are (p. 84):

• Every member of the organization performs the acts we assume to constitute an expression of preference among the scheduled alternatives, e.g., voting.
• In tabulating these expressions (votes), the weight assigned to each individual is identical.
• The alternative with the greatest number of votes is declared the winning choice.
• Any member who perceives a set of alternatives, at least one of which he regards as preferable to any of the alternatives presently scheduled, can insert his preferred alternative(s) among those scheduled for voting.
• All individuals possess identical information about the alternatives.
• Alternatives (leaders or policies) with the greatest number of votes displace any alternatives (leaders or policies) with fewer votes.
• The orders of elected officials are executed.
• Either all interelection decisions are subordinate or excutory to those arrived at during the election stage, i.e, elections are in a sense controlling; or new decisions during the interelection period are governed by the preceding seven conditions, operating, however, under rather different institutional circumstances; or both.

Dahl hypothesized that each of these condition can be quantified, and suggested using the term polyarchy to call an organization that scores high on the scales for all the eight conditions.

Democracy and its critics

In his 1989 book, Democracy and its critics, Dahl gives the following characteristics of a polyarchy (p. 233):

• Control over governmental decisions about policy is constitutionally vested in elected officials.
• Elected officials are chosen and peacefully removed in relatively frequent, fair and free elections in which coercion is quite limited.
• Practically all adults have the right to vote in these elections (as opposed to, for example, the case of the United States where close to four million U.S. citizens are excluded from participating to elect the President and cannot vote in elections that select voting-members of Congress: U.S. Government disenfranchisement of U.S. citizens residing in Puerto Rico).
• Most adults also have the right to run for the public offices for which candidates run in these elections.
• Citizens have an effectively enforced right to freedom of expression, particularly political expression, including criticism of the officials, the conduct of the government, the prevailing political, economic, and social system, and the dominant ideology.
• They also have access to alternative sources of information that are not monopolized by the government or any other single group.
• Finally, they have an effectively enforced right to form and join autonomous associations, including political associations, such as political parties and interest groups, that attempt to influence the government by competing in elections and by other peaceful means.

Puerto Rico is an insular area — a United States territory that is neither a part of one of the fifty states nor a part of the District of Columbia, the nations federal district. ...

Characteristics

Polyarchy and its procedures by itself may be insufficient for achieving full democracy. For example, poor people may be unable to participate in the political process.[3]

Moreover, perceived polyarchies -such as the United States- may bar a substantial amount of its citizens from participating in its national electoral process. For example, more than four million U.S. citizens residing in the U.S. territories (such as Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands) are excluded from voting for the President and are excluded from participating in the election of any voting-member of Congress, which are the political bodies that hold ultimate sovereignty over them.^[2][3] U.S. territories may refer to the following Unincorporated territories (current, former) - some of the current territories are collectively known as insular areas Former organized territories that later obtained statehood This is a disambiguation page — a list of topics associated with the same title. ...

When, in the 1940s, Joseph Schumpeter argued that ordinary citizens should limit their participation in a democracy to electing its leaders, he was effectively arguing for polyarchy. This contrasts with the view presented in the eighteenth century by Rousseau, that the health of a polity depended on active citizen involvement in all aspects of governance. According to Schumpeter, massive political participation is regarded as undesirable and even dangerous. Schumpeter thought that the electoral masses are incapable of political participation other than voting for their leaders. Most political issues are so remote from the daily lives of ordinary people, that they can not make sound judgements about opinions, policies and ideologies. Joseph Schumpeter Joseph Alois Schumpeter (February 8, 1883 – January 8, 1950) was an economist from Austria and an influential political scientist. ... Rousseau redirects here. ...

In Preface to Democratic Theory (1956) Dahl argues that an increase in citizen political involvement may not always be beneficial for polyarchy. An increase in the political participation of members of "lower" socioeconomic classes, for example, could reduce the support for the basic norms of polyarchy, because members of those classes are more pre-disposed to be authoritarian-minded.^{[4] [5]}

In a discussion of contemporary British foreign policy, Mark Curtis stated that "Polyarchy is generally what British leaders mean when they speak of promoting 'democracy' abroad. This is a system in which a small group actually rules and mass participation is confined to choosing leaders in elections managed by competing elites." ^[6] Mark Curtis is a British political author writing on British and US foreign policies and international development and trade issues. ...

According to William I. Robinson, democracy is a contested concept. He argues that when U.S. policymakers use the term democracy, they mean polyarchy - a system in which a small group rules and mass participation in decision-making is confined to leadership choice in elections carefully managed by competing elites. Polyarchy then may be thought of as "low intensity democracy" or "consensual domination". In contrast to polyarchy, Robinson posits "popular democracy", which refers to a dispersal throughout society of political power that can be used to change unjust social and economic structures.^[7]

See also

• civil society
• governance
• state/space theory
• clientelism

The Politics series Politics Portal This box:      Civil society is composed of the totality of voluntary civic and social organizations and institutions that form the basis of a functioning society as opposed to the force-backed structures of a state (regardless of that states political system) and commercial institutions. ... State/Space theory constitutes a new branch of social and political geography in which the issues of space as a geographic element are considered for their influence on political relationships and outcomes. ...

External links

• "Politicians Sweep Midterm Elections" a spoof news article from The Onion elucidating the limited nature of the electoral process in a polyarchy.
• Polyarchy: a manifesto Polyarchy as empowerment of free individuals and voluntary communities.

In contemporary usage, a parody (or lampoon) is a work that imitates another work in order to ridicule, ironically comment on, or poke some affectionate fun at the work itself, the subject of the work, the author or fictional voice of the parody, or another subject. ... The Onion is a United States-based parody newspaper published weekly in print and daily online. ...

Citations

• Robert A. Dahl. 1956. A Preface to Democratic Theory. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-13425-3 (paper).
• Robert A. Dahl. 1972. Polyarchy: Participation and Opposition. Yale University Press . ISBN 0-300-01565-8 (paper).
• Seyom Brown. 1988. New Forces, Old Forces, and the Future of World Politics. Glenview, Il.: Scott Foresman.
• Charles Blattberg. 2003. Shall We Dance? A Patriotic Politics for Canada. Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queens's University Press. ISBN 0-7735-2547-5 (cloth); ISBN 0-7735-2596-3 (paper).
• James N. Rosenau & Ernst-Otto Czempiel. 1992. Governance without Government: Order and Change in World Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Robinson, William I., Promoting Polyarchy.

Robert Alan Dahl (b. ... Robert Alan Dahl (b. ... Charles Blattberg Charles Blattberg (born 1967 in Toronto, Canada) is a professor of political philosophy at the Université de Montréal. ... A former President of the International Studies Association, Professor Rosenaus scholarship and teaching focus on the dynamics of world politics and the overlap between domestic and foreign affairs. ...

References

1. ^ http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/polyarchy
2. ^ Raskin, James B. (2003). Overruling Democracy: The Supreme Court Vs. the American People. London and New York: Routledge, pp. 36–38. ISBN 0415934397
3. ^ Torruella, Juan R. (1985). The Supreme Court and Puerto Rico: The Doctrine of Separate and Unequal.
4. ^ Dahl, Preface to Democratic Theory, p. 89
5. ^ "Citizen participation and democracy in the Netherlands", by Ank Michels (referenced 26 September 2006)
6. ^ Mark Curtis, Web of Deceit: Britain's Real Role in the World, p. 247, London: Vintage UK Random House. ISBN 0-09-944839-4
7. ^ Promoting Polyarchy: Globalization, U. S. Intervention, and Hegemony by William I. Robinson, Mershon International Studies Review, Vol. 41, No. 2 (Nov., 1997), pp. 308-310, in JSTOR