The Dilemma of Pluralistic Democracy: Autonomy and Control

Author: (USA) Dahl
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-05-01
Features: Acknowledgments Potential Dilemmas Clarification of Main Premises Multilateralism and the Dilemmas of Democracy National Differences More Democracy Wealth and Income Redistribution: Capitalism and Socialism Changing Civic Orientation Remedies Appendix A Appendix B
Dahl's pluralist democracy theory has made significant contributions to the study of Western democratic theory. This book is one of Dahl's more recent works and is also considered a work that demonstrates the full maturity of his pluralist democracy theory. For the elderly Dahl, this book can also be seen as the author's final interpretation of his pluralist democracy theory.
The term "pluralist democracy," also known as "" (head politics), "modern representative democracy," or "pluralist politics," is regarded as the orthodox form of Western democratic politics. As Mr. Li Pengcheng has said, Dahl's pluralist democracy theory is a modern "deconstruction" of "democratic forms," "truthfully revealing the real mechanisms of Western modern democratic forms, that is, the competition of interests among social groups."
Democracy is reduced to the study of institutions themselves, rather than the abstract "rule of the majority." In this way, the utilitarian principle of interest competition and resource allocation implied by Western mainstream democratic institutions is highlighted. In modern social structures, individual interests are integrated into group and organizational interests. Modern interest conflicts manifest as group interest conflicts, and the personal interests that democracy initially aims to protect are instead obscured. Those who fall outside the train of organizational integration are further marginalized.
Clearly, Dahl does not fully appreciate this democratic model. Democracy should transcend it, but how can this transcendence be achieved? How can the modern paradox of democracy be resolved? In this book, Dahl attempts to provide answers. Whether these answers are helpful or not depends on the discerning reader to experience.