Theme: Democracy and pluralism

Module II

Lecture#13

Plan of the lecture:

1. Introduction

2. Democracy

3. Political pluralism

4. Glossary

5. Recommended readings

“We choose the democracy not for the virtues, but to avoid the tyranny”

Karl Popper

(British and Austrian Sociologist)

1. Introduction

Democracy is one of the main forms of political organization of society and form of government Democracy is based on the recognition of people as a source of power

Democracy can be a specific type of state, which declared the following principles:

• rights and freedoms
• freedom of action of various political forces
• control over the activities of the authorities

1. Democracy

Signs of democracy:

1. Recognition of people as the source of state power and the bearer of sovereignty

2. Respect for the rights and freedoms of citizens, their equality, opportunity to participate in political life

3. Eligibility major public authorities on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot

4. Separation of powers, transparency in the work of state bodies, officials and the control of society

5. Developed system of local government

6. Majority rule in decision -making and implementation, right of the minority opposition

7. Competitive party system - the basic mechanism of the will of the people and their influence on the government

Values ​​of democracy:

· Equality

· Freedom

· Justice.

The most important mechanisms of democracy:

1. Ensuring political stability of society

2. Ability to compromise

3. Respect for every individual

4. Peaceful resolution of conflicts

5. Lack of privileges from the officials

6. Private competition during the election campaign

7. Free Press (Mass Media)

Characteristic features of a democratic system

1. Authority is divided into mutually independent legislative, executive and judicial powers

2. Citizens are plenty of rights and freedoms

3 Legal opposition enjoys full political rights and freedoms, as well as an incumbent majority

4. Functioning multi-party system in which one party may change in power in other elections

5 Media is completely free of censorship

6 Actions of army and secret services are regulated and restricted by law

7 There is no any official ideology in society

8 The state does not interfere in the affairs of the church

9 Citizens openly and freely express their thoughts and positions

10 Unitary and federal forms of government

11 Minority rights are fully respected.

Western theories of democracy:

1. Pluralism

- Reconcile the interests of different groups with the participation of state

- Recognition of human rights, competition, legal political forces, separation of powers, federalism

- Representation of the capabilities of each political force autonomized rely on the levers of power, transparent decision -making

2. Theory of participatory democracy (participatory democracy)

- Participant is making and implementing decisions with the active role in the state and socio- economic process

3. Theory of polyarchy (minority domination)

- The ability of the majority of citizens to express and pursue their interests and achieve various government posts, to set policy in the legislature to get the guarantee of freedom

4. Theoriy of elite democracy

- A democratic political system

- Protection of elite democratic values

- Containment of anti-democratic aspirations of the masses

5. Theory with social - democracy

- Cooperation of political elites as large coalitions in the polity

- The principle of proportional representation

- Autonomy of local structures

1. Political pluralism

The term of "pluralism" was introduced in 1915 by British socialist John Laski. According to his theory classes in modern bourgeois society are disappeared, and instead of them there are different layers interacting with common interests, and ' forming pressure groups of political power.

It was argued that public organizations (trade unions, youth leagues, church, corporations, etc.) share power with the government, and there will be a "diffusion" (splitting) of sovereignty between multiple institutions.

The ideal model of "democratic socialism " and " class peace" was promoted.

Key positions of pluralism:

1. Independence and equality of diverse elements of society.

2. Waiver of dictatorship and violence

3. Tolerance to the opposition

4. Resolving conflicts within the law through peaceful means

5. Balancing interests through compromise, the search for consensus

1. Recommended readings:

1. Саяси түсіндірме сөздік. – Алматы, 2007
2. Бадильдинов Л.А. Саясаттану негіздері//Оқу құралы - Алматы, 2005
3. Жамбылов Д.А. Саясаттану. – Алматы, Экономика, 1996
4. Введение в политологию /Гаджиев К.С., Каменская Г.Н, Родионов А.Н. и др. – М., 1994
5. Гаджиев К.С. Политическая наука: Пособие для преподавателей, аспирантов и студентов гуманитарных факультетов. – М., 1994.
6. Даниленко В.И. Современный политологический словарь – М., 2000.
7. Краснов Б.И. Основы политологии. – М., 1994.
8. Основы политической науки: Учебное пособие для высших учебных заведений/Под ред. В.П. Пугачева. В 2 ч. – М., 1994.
9. Панарин А.С., Василенко И.А. Политология. Общий курс. – М., 2003.

Task for IWS: Prepare report “Models of modern power: the market, democratic, authoritarian, and so on.”

Task for IWS under teacher’s control: The role of democracy and pluralism in the modern world

Home task: Discover the situation with human rights in some totalitarian states (North Korea, Cuba)

Glossary:

Political science	Политология	Саясаттану
Studying the whole area of ​​political relations	Изучение сферы политических отношений	Саяси қарым-қатынастардың аясын зерттеу
Human activity	Человеческая деятельность	Адами әрекеті
Broad sense	В широком сысле	Кең мағынада
Narrow sense	В узком смысле	Тар мағынада
Formation and development of political power	Формирование и развитие политической силы	Саяси күшті құрастыру мен дамыту
Political process	Политические процессы	Саяси процестер
Power	Власть	Билік
Separation of powers	Разделение властей	Билікті бөлу
Containment	Сдерживание	Тежеу
compromise	компромисс	мәмле
commitment	обязательство	міндеттеме
layers	слои	топтар

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14