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DEMOCRACY and
LEGITIMACY
What do we associate
with democracy?
people, rule by many, popular
sovereignty, representation
rules, limits, laws, rule of law
rights, freedom, statue of liberty,
Bill of Rights
elections, ballots, consent,
legitimacy
 Legitimacy

broadly means rightfulness

the grounds on which governments may
demand obedience from citizens
Why do people obey a particular state?
 Legitimacy- as a sociological
phenomenon
3 Types of Authority
(Weber)

Traditional
Charismatic
Rational-legal
How do you link legitimacy to democracy?
What is democracy?
Models of Democracy
Democracy in Practice
In defining democracy

a system of rule by the poor and the disadvantaged

a form of government in which the people rule
directly and continuously
a society based on equal opportunity and individual
merit, rather than hierarchy and privilege
a system of welfare and redistribution aimed at
narrowing inequalities
a system of decision-making based on the principle
of majority rule
 other meanings:
a system of rule that secures the rights
and interests of minorities by placing
checks upon the power of the majority
a means of filling public offices through
a competitive struggle for the popular
vote
a system of government that serves the
interests of the people regardless of
their participation
Gettysburg Address
(Abraham Lincoln, Nov. 19, 1863)

...that this nation under God shall

have a new birth of freedom, and that
government of the people, by the
people, for the people shall not perish
from the earth.
Who are the people?

Ancient Greek view (exclusive

citizenship)
Modern view (adult citizens; the
general will rather than particular
will; the majority; cosmopolitan
democracy)
 How should the
people rule?
government by the people:
Ancient Greek democracy: Direct
Democracy
Modern: Representative Democracy
government for the people:
totalitarian democracy (plebiscitary
democracy)
How far should popular rule
extend?
(government for the people)

What is the proper realm of

democracy? (public-private sphere)
Disagreements ( depends on view of
politics and ideology)
Models of Democracy
competing liberal views of democratic
organization
Classical democracy (Ancient Greek or
Athenian democracy)
Protective democracy (17th-18thC-
Lockean democracy: democracy for the
protection of the people from the
encroachments of government; a
government by consent (representative
assembly); however only the propertied
could vote)
Models of Democracy
competing liberal views of democratic

organization
Developmental Democracy (18th-19thC:
Rousseauist: obedience to a law one
prescribes to oneself or obedience to the
general will ); this requires political
equality and economic equality; shaped the
idea of participatory democracy;
JSMill: broader popular participation-
inclusive citizenship with the exception of
those who are illiterate- a deliberative
democracy
Models of Democracy
competing liberal views of democratic
organization

Peoples democracy- Marxist-inspired

democracies; against the
capitalist/bourgeois democracy; social
equality, more than political equality;
20th C: Leninist-inspired democracy-
power to the Communist party (the
vanguard of the working class)
 The Western Model (Sodaro)
Liberal Democratic model (Constitutional liberalism)

Economic Well-being
Popular sovereignty

Rights & Liberties

FOUNDATIONS
 Features of a Liberal
Democracy (Heywood)
indirect and representative democracy
guaranteed through regular elections
founded on political equality
based on competition and electoral
choice through pluralism and the
existence of opposition
distinguishes between the state and
civil society
 Theories of Liberal

Democracy
Pluralism (Madisonian democracy-rule by multiple
minorities; Dahl- rule by the many or polyarchy -party
competition and articulation of interests)
Elitism (Classical elite models of Pareto, Mosca and
Michels: elite rule, rule by the privileged minority; Coherent
elite model of C. Wright Mills: power elite model;
Schumpeters Competitive or democratic elitism-elite rivalry-
fractured elite model)
Corporatism (integration of economic interests into
government; a design to secure the cooperation and
support of major economic interests; makes possible
functional representation- major groups compete to shape
government policy)
 Theories of Liberal
Democracy
New Right (advocates the free market;
protective democracy- a defense against
arbitrary government)
Marxism (rooted in class analysis;power
is concentrated in the hands of a few-the
ruling class; liberal democracy as as
capitalist or bourgeois democracy;
difference(s) between the elitist and the
Marxist view of liberal democracy?)
 Cosmopolitan
democracy?

requires the construction of a world

parliament
or through a reform of existing
international organizations