2nd Mid-Term Prep 7 → 8

Chris Achen and Larry Bartels

Folk Theory

Citizens have policy preferences. They elect leaders who align their policy with their policy preferences. This is problematic because citizens often don’t have the knowledge to understand policy, and it also reflects a government that operates on the “will of the people.” In the long run, this leads to the tyranny of the majority.

Defects with Prospective Accountability

Assumes voters choose candidates based on their policy platforms. Lack of policy knowledge, group identity 

Defects with Retrospective Accountability

• Citizens punish representatives for conditions the government is not responsible for. 

• Citizens only focus on the economic condition 6 months before elections.

Problems with referenda: 

Empower wealthy special interests instead of ordinary citizens because it is expensive to get signatures and media coverage

Problems with term limits:

• Lack of experience from the representatives, which could shift power to the executive, bureaucrats, and lobbyists. 

• Less innovative policies, less work done by expert legislative committees.

Two problems with retrospective accountability

• Citizens punish representatives for conditions the government is not responsible for. 

• Citizens are not good at evaluating whether conditions are going well or not. 

  • Ex: We only focus on economic performances 6 months before elections. 

Achen and Bartels claim that democracy is valuable for three reasons. Know these three reasons.

1. Political stability: Selection of government 

2. Educative benefit: 

3. Legitimate opposition reduces degradation of the government 

Iron law of oligarchy

A theory that claims all complex organizations, regardless of how democratic they start, end up as oligarchies.

Michels studied European socialist parties.

Democracy is stuck in the dilemma of oligarchy’s structure due to its size. Since it’s a large organization, even if a new leader replaces the old ones, the oligarchy structure would remain.

Why do Oligarchy arises

Need for leadership 

Bureaucracy in a large organization

Michels takes the theory of bureaucracy from the great German sociologist Max Weber.

Bureaucracy is an inescapable hierarchical structure necessary for large organizations, which leads to the “Iron Law of Oligarchy.”

The iron law of oligarchy critiques Marxism.

This theory argues that structural "laws of organization" are more powerful and permanent than the "laws of class struggle”.

Democracy is the least objectionable form of government.

Because democracies system allows for constant checks against elites

Importance of education of the working class to resist oligarchy.

Education builds trust among people, 

Elites maintain power by creating problems and keeping the public busy rather than worrying about decisions being made by elites. 

Elites consolidate power through wars by creating a common enemy.  

Democracy is a tension between two regulative principles.

• Theocratic/Democratic idealism

• Technical/oligarchic necessity

• Theocratic/Democratic idealism → (popular sovereignty) Mass control, equality, and control over leadership.

• Technical/oligarchic necessity → (Power in the hands of the few (Elites)) The organizational need for specialization, bureaucracy, and leader control, with power in the hands of the few.