Pluralism works in the way that groups and coalitions are constantly fighting for power within the government to fit their agendas and the people they are vying for. This can be seen with the bike rack debate that has been presented in Sierra Vista’s city council. The special interest group is offering an award of being a bike friendly city to Sierra Vista in hopes of making people healthier, however public opinion support of the bike racks has been dismal at best. This is a local example but the NRA is an example of a larger special interest group where a lot more wealth comes into play as in a biased pluralism only adding fuel to the ruling elite…
A pluralist government is much like the opposite of the elitist government. In a pluralist government the power of decision making and policy making are based more on the wants and needs of many rather than just a few. It is said to be a government of the people, by the people, for the people.Everyones views are valued regardless of ones position in society. This is similar to the type of government we have…
A group of people with shared feelings or attitudes that try to influence government policy making. Pluralism leads to interest groups.…
1. Regarding theories of democracy, Pluralism is the establishment of a group with share ideas and concerns towards public policy. Consequently, these shared values contributes to an organized effort which is able to dominate smaller groups and contribute to a larger dispersed power. In addition, Pluralists are optimistic and have thoughts that the public interest is most necessary; therefore, these Pluralists make promises to the public to express their views. Notably, Elitism is a theory that explains the upper class controls the power instead of the government because they control assets such as stocks, property, and election funding which can pull strings at the government. Alternatively, hyperpluralism is a critique of pluralism where…
In an essay explain how the ideals of "Marxism" diffused out during the twentieth century and compare/contrast each of the diffusions (implementations) with the original ideals of the Communist Manifesto. Focus on implementation, propaganda, and success/failures. Use the above links, your chapter, the documents and visual sources to help you with this essay. This is meant to be a two-three page essay; this does not include a cover page or work cited page. The essay should be 12 pt font, double spaced and have one inch margins.…
2. From the perspective of pluralism government makes decisions benefitting relatively small groups and not the general public.…
(Gilens) Majoritarian Pluralism is based on a large portion of the population banding together and forming interest groups to have their voices heard by the federal government. (Gilens) One such interest group is the National Rifle Association, also known as the NRA. The NRA is extremely active in the federal government’s policy making process in all things related to the second amendment. In this way the average American citizen can join a larger organization and have their voice heard by becoming active in these groups. Biased Pluralism is based on business based interest groups. (Gilens)In this scenario the businesses offer large campaign incentives to encourage policy makers to pass policies that will be beneficial to the corporation. The desires of Biased Pluralism is typically not intended for the betterment of the American people. It is solely to benefit the companies conducting the lobbying and their…
The World State is a seemingly perfect place. There people are “decanted” and then conditioned to fit perfectly into a preselected social caste. Because of the conditioning they are put through, everyone is happy in the caste they are put in. The feelings of despair and suffering are absent from this world, at the price of religion, art, and open scientific discoveries. While from the surface the World State seems like an utopia in the novel Brave New World, Aldous Huxley expresses his clear distaste for the state through the character John as he criticizes the ways of the World State’s society once he’s introduced to the different aspects of it, Bernard Marx as he criticizes the World State as he doesn’t fit in in it, and Helmholtz as he struggles…
In order to answer this question the parameters of the discussion must first be set, with key terms in the title defined. Marxism I define to be ‘an economic and socio-political worldview and method of socio-economic enquiry which focuses upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change and an analysis and critique of capitalism. ‘ Democracy, I define to be an ‘egalitarian form of government in which sovereignty is vested in the people and exercised by them or elected agents.’ In the following essay I will present two opposing interpretations of Marxism, with both leading to wildly divergent conclusions regarding the democratic nature of Marxism. The first perspective revolves around a literal interpretation of Marxism; with the emphasis being entirely on Marx’s writings as oppose to any subsequent interpretations or manifestations of his beliefs. The second perspective involves an empirical study of Marxism, with various Marxist regimes analyzed and the extent to which they are democratic being the primary means of assessing as to whether Marxism is democratic or not. The following two quotations, I believe demonstrate the polarity of opinion existing on Marxism and Democracy and accurately summarize the two perspectives I will be arguing; Hal Draper (1978) states ‘Marx’s socialism maybe most quickly defined, as the complete democratization of society, not merely of political forms,’ and Joseph Femia ‘Communist despotism was a logical consequence of Marxist theory.’ In the first part of the essay, I will outline Marx’s theory of the state and democracy which supports the argument that Marxism is not theoretically anti-democratic. In the second part of the essay I will present the view that as a result of their being such significant empirical evidence in opposition to this thesis I believe it is hard to argue that Marxism can be viewed as democratic. Marx stated ‘The question whether human…
Interest groups are a key aspect of American politics in the world today. An interest group is an organization of people with shared policy goals that enter the policy making process at several points to try and influence the policy. The development of interest groups has led to the creation of three theories used to describe them: pluralism, hyperpluralism, and elitism. Pluralism states that interest groups bring representation to all the people. Elitism is when there is an unbalance of power towards certain interest groups. Hyperpluralism states that the government is differential to interests groups and creates conflicting regulations. Hyperpluralists believe that iron triangles greatly influence the policy. Iron triangles are known…
The belief that competition among all affected interests shaps public policy. ii. Pluralists believe that political tools such as money, prestige, expertise, and access to the mass media are too widely scattered fora single elite to monopolize on them. iii. Pluralists acknowledge that big businesses, cozy elites, or career bureaucrats may dominate on some issues, but not all. V. Is Democracy driven by Self-Interest?A. Some actions are independent of self interest, but others aren’t.i. Dependent on individual’s ideals, morals, and ethics. ii. A policy may be good or bad regardless of the motive behind it. B. The belief that people will usually act on the basis of their self-interest, narrowly defined, is a theory to be tested, not an assumption to be made.i. Some people act out of purely self interest while others do not. Most people lay somewhere in between. VI. What Explains Political Change?A. Many forces drive political changei. Economic interestsii. Powerful elitesiii. Entrenched bureaucratsiv. Competing pressure groupsv. Morally impassioned individuals vi. WarsB. Many historical things have happened in U.S history causing political changei. The Great Depressionii. The development of the federal government VII. The Nature of Politics A. The Importance of Power in Politicsi. Conjures up deals, bribes, power plays, and arm twisting. ii. Shared understanding, common friendships, communal or organizational loyalties can shape…
This essay will be mainly focused on the similarities and the differences in two sociological perspectives which are the Marxist and the Functionalist approach when it comes to health and illness, also will define the definition of them.…
10. Pluralist Theory - An analysis of politics emphasizing the role of diverse and competing interest groups in preventing too much power being accumulated in the hands of political and economic elites.…
In the mid to late 1800’s, millions of Catholic immigrants began arriving in the United States. In 1815 there were only 80 Catholic Churches, 7 priests, and 70,000 Catholics, making Catholicism an extreme minority. However, by 1916 Catholics were a powerful force with 15.7 million members. The six largest Catholic immigration groups, referred to as the “Big Six” included Irish, German, Italian, Polish, French-Canadian, and Mexican Immigrants. Each immigrant group brought with them their own set of ideas on what it means to be a Catholic, and how best to practice Catholicism. For example, Irish Catholics held priests in high regard and paid a lot of respect and attention to them, whereas the Italian immigrants were very anti-clerical and didn’t respect or trust priests at all. Since the Irish were the first and most dominant group to arrive in America, most of the parishes that were established when other groups began to immigrate were Irish Catholic. Many of the other ethnic groups didn’t prefer or necessarily agree with the practices of the Irish Catholic church, so the church as a whole had to come up with a way that all of the different immigrant groups could be happy and be able to practice however they felt most comfortable doing. The church came up with two systems- the first was the territorial parish system. Under this system, a parish was placed in each distinct territory and if you lived in that territory, you must attend that territorial parish. This system failed because the different groups weren’t able to practice freely and they were forced to attend church with other ethnic groups that they didn’t necessarily agree with. This system was also dominated by Irish priests and services, and had very little diversity. So, a second system was invented where parishes were oriented around a particular ethnic group with a priest that that group chose, as long as that priest was approved by the bishop. So long as each group could raise the funds to build…
Conflict/Marxist Theory –Vold distinguishes between Marxist and Conflict perspectives, and lumps "post-modern" perspectives in with Conflict. Explain the differences between these two "critical" views of crime, particularly on the issue of social power (be sure to include Sellin, Vold, Quinney, Black, Chambliss & Seidman). How does one go about "testing" conflict theory? What, according to Vold et. al are the limitations of Conflict Theory? Finally, Post-Modern theory suggests that "domination" lies at the root of both violence and punishment. Explain this.…