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Elections & Democratic
Theory: A Review
MU MVZ 449
Spring 2010
Masaryk University
Department of Int'l Relations & European Studies
Dave McCuan
Elections & Mass Political Behavior
Dave McCuan
Agenda
* A little democratic theory
* Madison's vision of American government
* How elections impact government
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Democratic Theory: A Review
Thomas Hobbes
In the State of Nature: "[there are] no arts; no letters; no society;
and which is worst of all, continual fear, and danger of violent
death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and
short"
Quoted at http://radicalacademy.com/hcdffilehome5b.htm
Democratic Theory, cont'd
John Locke
"We hold these truths to be self-evident....That, to secure
these [natural] rights, governments are instituted among
men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the
governed."
Quoted at http://radicalacademy.com/hcdffilehome5b.htm
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Democratic Theory
* Characteristics
* Government should serve the interests of the people
* The people have a method of affecting the exercise of
public power
* Key issues
* How can we ensure the people hold public power?
* How can we ensure that this government is stable?
* What do we mean by "public power"?
Democratic Theory
* "Pure democracy"
* Direct exercise of the public's will
* Modern day examples
* Potential problems identified by
philosophers
* ability implement
* Plato's problem
* goal is debatable
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Madisonian Democracy
James Madison
Principle Architect of the American Constitution
Main theoretical ideas underlying the Constitution
are outlined in Federalist #10.
The Problem: Political
factions try to use
government to promote
own interest
Solution #1: Remove
causes of faction
Two options here,
both have problems
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Solution #2: Control
the effects of faction.
Minority Factions Minority Factions
The Republican
Principle
The Problem: Political
factions try to use
government to promote
own interest
Solution #1: Remove
causes of faction
Two options here,
both have problems
Review: The Republican Principle
* Differences between a republic and a
democracy
* Republic as a solution to the problem of
"minority faction"
* Republic as a partial solution to the
problem of "majority faction"
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Delegation of Authority
* The key to making this method work rests
on the delegation of power
* Problems:
* how much power to delegate?
* how can you control the delegate?
* how should the delegate make decisions?
* Leads to the concept of...representation
Representative Democracy
* Definition?
* Key characteristic:
Power of the people is delegated to
representatives
* In theory, how does this work?
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The Problem of Prediction with
Elections
* Principal = voters
* Agent = representative
* So, the focus here is on the linear match
of self-identification of preferences with
some matchup, lineup of candidates,
especially when that "match" is less than
ideal.
This scale represents a range of
possible policy options.
For example, all possible policy
solutions to Social Security crisis or
funding for prisons.
Most liberal option:
e.g., guaranteed government
retirement
Most conservative option:
e.g., incentives for individual
retirement saving, no
government funding
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We can place the current state of
policy on this scale.
Call it SQ for "status quo". It does not
have to be in the center.
LIBERAL CONSERVATIVESQ
Using this "example", we can now think
about how elections induce representation.
LIBERAL CONSERVATIVESQ
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L legislator's personal political view
A1, A2 two different policies being proposed to
the status quo
LIBERAL CONSERVATIVESQ
A1 A2L
The closer a policy alternative is to your own
preference, the more you favor that position.
What does L like best? A1, A2, or SQ?
LIBERAL CONSERVATIVESQ
A1 A2L
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D What the district wants!
LIBERAL CONSERVATIVESQ
A1 A2L
D
Now what does L like best? A1, A2, or SQ?
LIBERAL CONSERVATIVESQ
A1 A2L
D
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Some questions
* Why does D have the power to alter L's
choice?
* Does this necessarily mean that L will
listen to D on every vote? Why or why
not?
* What does it take for L to listen to D?
What kinds of things must D do to make L
pay attention?
Types of Representation
* Principal POLS Canon: Hanah Pitkin The
Concept of Representation
* Two generalized types of representation,
relevant as election references:
* delegate (John Locke)
* trustee (Edmund Burke)
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Delegate
Trustee
Elections are a negative force ­ the power to
punish.
Legislators are supposed to do exactly what the
voters want.
Elections are a positive force ­ choose the
"best" person for the job.
Legislators are supposed to do the right thing
after learning and deliberating.
Delegate
Trustee
In reality, legislators probably do a little bit of
each.
The fall somewhere in between the extremes on
this scale.
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Issues to Consider
* What qualities does an electoral system
need to ensure each type of
representation? How do they differ? How
are they the same?
* What qualities do voters need to ensure
each type of representation? What
information is relevant to their votes under
each model?
Ahhh...There it is...the
Normative Context
* Compare what we learn about elections
and voting to your criteria on these issues.
* What does our electoral system
reasonably accomplish? What needs to
be changed?