Elitism vs Pluralism

Subject  > Social Science Essays  > Political Science

When we look at the basic premise behind our founding fathers design to create our government, we are looking at democracy. We can view democracy in many different ways. The most basic principle is that we have a government that requires many different people and groups with contrasting ideas to make the most important decisions. To study the backbone of our government, democracy, we must look at the theories that contrast how we view ourselves as a democracy. As in any political debate, the two main theories, elitism and pluralism present numerous conflicts. Firstly, elitism defines all governments as systems that divide the people the few people that make the important decisions (the elite) and those who do not (the majority). Pluralism, on the other hand, defines democracy as a balanced ...

... democracy, leaders choose what they expose the majority to in order to maintain acceptance of their decisions. Pluralism attempts to make the theory of democracy more realistic by recognizing that the individual alone is no match for the big government and other big organizations, therefore, individuals form into larger groups to magnify the individual ideas that the majority share. Elitism makes no claim of being democratic stating that the majority is uninterested in politics and only sees what the elites want them to see. Pluralism reaffirms democratic values; placing emphases allowing a natural competition between groups protect the individual, and thus maintaining a system of checks and balances. Although many Americans may disagree, I believe we live in a pluralist democracy. Yes, the media may influence the

essay continues for another 100 words