Is This Any Way to Run a Democratic Government?

Chapter 1 Issues of Democratic Governance

★★★ 3 ★★★ Issues of Democratic Governance M ost of the theoretical and empirical studies of American democracy focus on participation by the public in electoral and governing processes. Such studies examine the structure, conduct, and consequences of elections; the turnout and behavior of voters; the role of parties in organizing electoral choice, mobilizing political supporters, and influencing the outcome of the vote; and the agenda-setting and accountability function of elections. They also explore the accessibility of government, public attitudes about it, the ways in which individual and groups try to influence it, and the extent to which outside influence, directly or indirectly, affects the formulation, implementation, and adjudication of public policy. This book does not duplicate those efforts. It does not focus primarily on the inputs to government but on how government reacts to those inputs and converts them into public policy outputs. It is concerned with the composition of governing institutions—particularly their representational character, the structure and processes of those institutions, and especially their decisional rules—and, finally, with the congruence of social needs, public inputs, and policy outputs. In each area the contributors to this book are concerned with the following questions: To what extent is the American system of government democratic, and how well does that system work? To answer these questions we examine basic democratic values and then apply those values to the operation of the national government . We do so by first discussing the foundations of democratic governance; then we propose three criteria by which the character of that government can be assessed: the way in which government represents and responds to the public, the rules by which it operates and makes policy decisions, and the policy itself and its impact on society. In this way, we evaluate the degree to which the American system of government is of, by, and for the people. The Foundations of Democratic Government What is a democratic government? On what assumptions is it based? Simply stated, a democratic government is one that is based on popular consent—“a government of, by, and for the people,” to use Lincoln’s words from the Gettysburg Address. A government of the people should encourage public dialogue , be accessible to individuals and groups and responsive to them, and make decisions that benefit the society as a whole. Moreover, it must have the capability to convert public expression and group interests into acceptable and desirable policy outputs that are regarded as legitimate by those affected by them. Strictly speaking, government is a conversion mechanism. It exists for all of the people, not just for those in positions of authority —but especially for those who do not Chapter 1 Issues of Democratic Governance Stephen J. Wayne ★★★ P A R T I : D E M O C R AT I C T H E O R Y ★★★ 4 ★★★ hold such positions. It enables the public to control its own destiny. That is why government is necessary and democratic government is desirable. Basic Values: Life, Liberty, and Self-Fulfillment Acknowledging the worth of every human being living within a governing system is an underlying premise of democracy. Such an acknowledgment requires, at the least, that government protect and preserve human life. Personal security must be an ongoing concern; it is a precondition for the pursuit of other needs and desires. That pursuit, often referred to as self-fulfillment , is most apt to flourish in an environment that maximizes free choice and rewards individual initiative and effort. Borrowing from English philosopher John Locke, Thomas Jefferson summed up these principles in his famous phrase in the Declaration of Independence, “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Life comes first; freedom is second. Both are essential to the pursuit of happiness, the third component in Jefferson’s trinity of fundamental and unalienable rights. If individual liberty represents one pillar of a democratic system, political equality is another. When Jefferson wrote that “all men are created equal,” he was expressing the belief that all human lives must be considered to be of equal value. His words, which were designed to support the revolutionists’ claim that American colonists had been unjustly denied the rights of Englishmen, have subsequently been used by others— nonproperty owners, religious minorities, slaves, women, and, more recently, those whose sexual orientation differs from that of the majority—to claim their lawful and just rights. Although Jefferson presented a theoretical argument, today the principle of equality has been widely accepted as an operative norm and incorporated into the...