1. How do parties reflect social cleavages?
Student handout 3.5 and discussion
- What cleavages exist in our society?
- How do the parties in our country reflect these cleavages?
- What decisions and compromises have been mad
2. Pluralism
- What interest groups and NGOs are present in politics?
- Which interests are well organised? Which are not?
3. Compromise
In democracies, pluralism generates the necessity for compromise. Different views are held on this:
- From the individual player’s point of view: compromise is the price to pay for power. Good ideas are watered down to a second best solution.
- From a general point of view: pluralism generates competition; the players keep each other in check and ensure that none of them becomes too powerful. Pluralism in society has the same effect as checks and balances do in a constitution.
- Viewed from the output perspective: pluralism generates the necessity to compromise. Decisions that go to extremes are rare. This supports social cohesion.
- Which of these views are confirmed by a reality check in your country, e.g. a case study?
4. Comparing democracy and dictatorship
Student handout 3.4
- How do democracies and dictatorships handle diverse interests and views?
- What decisions are made? (Criteria for comparison: inclusion of interests, efficiency, articulation of criticism, role of the media.)
5. The two dimensions of politics
Max Weber:4
- “Politics may be compared to slowly and strongly boring holes through thick planks, both with passion and good judgment.”
- “Whoever is active in politics strives for power.”
- How did we experience the two dimensions of politics in this unit?
- How do political actors balance these two dimensions in our country?
13. Max Weber, “Politics as a Vocation”, pp. 2, 34 (www.sscnet.ucla.edu/polisci/ethos/Weber-vocation.pdf); quotations edited by the author.