Robert Dahl in the book On Democracy

In his book On Democracy

Robert Dahl offers views on both the theoretical and practical aspects of democracy. The word “democracy” has been given many different meanings over the years, making it difficult to define precisely. Dahl, however, refers to “people’s democracies” as being more comparable to actual democracies than “bourgeois” democracies. According to Dahl, true democracy accords all members of a community equal participation rights in making decisions. In regards to this, his primary focus is on equality, where the government upholds these people’s freedoms and rights (Robert Dahl). Thus, it becomes inevitable to have a democracy where there is no equal political participation.

Dahl discusses the origin of democracy

where the names Rome and Greece. However, attainment of democracy in these states was not purely one-phased, but it took different phases. For this matter, it diffused from place to place at different periods in history. Important to note is that the democratic practices and ideas paved the way for diffusion but, other encounters contributed to the modern-day democracy. Dahl, therefore, sees that democracy is flexible as it can be invented and reinvented provided the necessary conditions prevail. Hence, generating the logic of equality.

Civic Competence

Despite the fact that democracy gives citizens an equal opportunity in public participation, civic competence as explained by Dahl is equally important. Therefore, the is the need to delegate part of the decisions to skilled professionals and not any citizen. Moreover, the decisions by the governments are complex and do not in any way resemble personal decisions. Therefore, for proper governance, scientific knowledge based on ethic is key. Incorruptible individuals are more likely to perform better than those who engage in the graft (Almond, Gabriel, and Sidney Verba). Thus, Dahl asserts that it is not a necessary condition that democracy is the best option when it comes to running a democratic country.

Consociation

Dahl contends that the consociation in most democracies only prevails where favorable conditions exist. The consociation model applies for plural societies where having diverse groups and are strict when it comes to influencing from other countries. Consociation models in a democracy aim at fostering reconciliation, compromise, and mutual adjustment which assists in generating a political balance (Orlović, Slaviša). In Belgium for example, the sign placed in streets in Brussel are written in Dutch and French, yet they fiercely reject external influence from other countries. The aim of doing this is to protect the rights of the minority groups on the lines of ethnicity, race, and religion among other factors. However, this democracy technique fails to achieve its intended goal in most instances.

Variations in Constitutional Structures

There are both written and unwritten constitutions. While the unwritten constitutions stem from exceptional historical circumstances, the written constitutions provide the standards defining a democracy (Dahl, Robert A). On the other hand, governments are either unitary or federal. Democracy exists on different scales which leads to the variations in the constitutional structures. Moreover, a proletarian democracy is a fairer type of governance compared to the bourgeois democracy. Dahl claims that a bourgeois has a limitation when it comes to democracy given the fact that it lacks all the public institutions necessary for a democracy to prevail. On the other hand, a polyarchal democracy may favor democratization of large states while disadvantaging smaller units. The Greek democracy, when compared to the modern democracy, shows variations despite the fact that both constituted more or less the same thing. While modern democracy prioritizes inclusion and election of leaders, the Athenian democracy failed to incorporate these two factors.

The factor of geographical size and the population

is another factor causing variations. The primary concern stems from the fact that reformers have detached themselves from proposals to split one big state into numerous smaller ones. The inability to communicate to a large number of people contributed to the need to split countries into manageable sizes. On the other hand, other countries rooted for assembly democracy and retained their country sizes. However, Dahl claims that this lessens participations opportunity for the public, the number of representatives is at times subtle, and the few representatives may root for interests of other parties, not the people who have elected them (Dahl, Robert A). For this matter, variations in democracy stem from the differences in the constitutional structures.

Democracy Vs. Market Capitalism

Market capitalism and democracy go either direction as at times that relationship is adverse while at other times it is favorable. Dahl considers a polyarchal democracy where the countries assume a market-capitalist approach. Similarly, the governments of Greece, medieval Italy and Rome exhibited such a polyarchal government but are successful democracies. Important to note is that there are policies pushed by a market-capitalism that work for democracy (Putnam, Robert, Robert Leonardi, and Raffaella Y. Nanetti). On the other hand, a non-market economy injures badly democratic prospects. Economic endowment brought about by market capitalism lowers the poverty rates while elevating the public to better living standards. Hence, Dahl explains that market capitalism is critical for democracy to prevail as it reduces political and social rivalries.

Works Cited

Almond, Gabriel Abraham, and Sidney Verba. The civic culture: Political attitudes and democracy in five nations. Princeton University Press, 2015.

Dahl, Robert A. On Democracy. 1st ed., New Haven, Conn., Yale University Press, 1998,.

Orlović, Slaviša. “Consociational Experiments In The Western Balkans: Bosnia And Herzegovina And Macedonia”. New Balkan Politics, 2015, http://www.newbalkanpolitics.org.mk/item/consociational-experiments-in-the-western-balkans-bosnia-and-herzegovina-and-macedonia#.WIxtrjXy1YU.

Putnam, Robert D., Robert Leonardi, and Raffaella Y. Nanetti. Making democracy work: Civic traditions in modern Italy. Princeton university press, 1994.