Currently, however, there is much scepticism about the existence of pluralism
as a corner stone of democracy,
937
and consequent fears that a few powerful
voices drown
out the rest of us. Even at an institutional level one can see the
reason for this scepticism since many democracies in fact possess only two
major political parties. And in some cases the voting system and rules for
political funding, along with entrenched allegiances, to some extent shield the
major parties from challenge by outsiders.
Moneyed interests are another problem for pluralism since wealth and
economic power easily beget political influence either legally or illegally. One
prominent sphere where this happens is electoral funding. In representative
democracies elections are generally fought by campaigns that involve extensive
use of paid media advertising. This means that to contest an election it is
necessary to have access to substantial funds
to spend on this advertising.
(So, Abe Lincoln making it from a log cabin to the Whitehouse is now just
political notalgia.) A few candidates will have the resources themselves (if you
are wealthy enough you are politically competent). Most candidates lack the
resources and thus depend on donations, many of which come from large
corporations. In the way of things, most of these corporations will demand
something from their representative in return for their continued funding. In a
similar way, powerful interests can lobby an aspiring or elected representative
with promises of campaign support if they do the business of the lobbyist.
Reduced to its elements, this system of electoral funding amounts to a
purchase of political power. Essentially the more money a person gives to a
candidate, the more they can expect in return. Such a system, of course,
makes a mockery of the notion that the legislature is an assembly of those with
high ideals who are determined to act in the good of the nation. Until there is
massive reform to this system, most representative democracies will be a
shadow of their intended role; their campaign accounts will of course be the
richer, but democracy itself will be the poorer.
Deliberative Democracy
If liberty means anything, it means the right to tell people what they do not
want to hear.
938
Deliberative democracy is also called discursive democracy.
939
It is an idea
formulated in response to one of the problems of representative democracy.
Once legislators are elected by the people, they engage in debate and
___________________
937
Schacter (1995) pp 603-606
938
George Orwell
939
The expression was coined by Joseph M Besette in Deliberative Democracy:
The Majority Principle in Republican Government
(1980). Besette elaborated and
defended the notion in The Mild Voice of Reason (1994).
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