The Basics of Pluralism
- Emerged in Political Science in the 1940s and 1950s
as a result of the dissatisfaction of many scholars with
traditional legalistic institutionalism.
- Pluralists emphasized the multiplicity (plurality)
of interests in society and they focussed on the political
bargaining between groups. This bargaining occurred
between and among interest groups and the three
branches of government (including executive and
regulatory agencies).
- Public Policy is the product of the bargaining process
between groups and the formal institutions.
- Interest Groups form as the result of common
interest of the members and usually emerged because
of a threat to the common interest of the group.
- Because most issues in American politics are
never settled with finality the bargaining process
is essentially open-ended. The ever-changing
constellation of groups provides an element of stability
that a permanent majority-minority division of winners
and losers would not (that is, a zero-sum situation).
- Pluralism ensured the dispersal of power among organized
groups.
- The inclusion of more and more interests acts as a brake
on concentrations of power and majority tyranny.
- Citizens typically have a multiplicity of interests.
These interests reflect multiple cleavages in society
and it is likely that these cleavages will be
cross-cutting rather than reinforcing.
Cross-Cutting Clevages Mitigate Social Conflict.
Classic Works:
Bentley, A. F. 1908. The Process of Government.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Kornhauser, W. 1959. The Politics of Mass Society.
New York: Free Press.
Latham, E. 1952. "The Group Basis of Politics: Notes
for a Theory." American Political Science
Review, 46:376-397.
Lipset, S. M. 1963. Political Man: The Social Bases
of Politics. Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Books.
Truman, D. B. 1951. The Governmental Process.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
