Compare and contrast pluralist and ruling elite accounts of political power in the UK and US.

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Emily Edwards

Compare and contrast pluralist and ruling elite accounts of political power in the UK and US

The UK and US are essentially both democratic societies in which government is passed by the people, however, they cannot be fully democratic political systems as this would have to be characterised with political equality, which is obviously not the case as both countries have clear leaders possessing the majority of power. The size of both countries prevents everyone from taking part in the government and instead, a representative is chosen to govern on behalf of the people. There is a difference in opinion about how this representative governs; some believe a pluralist approach is taken in which the government is responsive to a plurality of groups which represent a plurality of interests and control diverse political resources. Others are sceptical of this approach and think an elitist approach occurs in which a minority rules over the majority in its own interest. This means they govern in a way, which is rarely responsive to the common public. Some people argue that the UK and US have very different political systems and are therefore governed in different ways. For example the UK is often referred to as being a more ruling elite country having only one small government possessing power. In comparison the more pluralist US has separated institutions sharing power disperse and fragmented government power. There is a tri-partite division of power between the legislature, the executive and the judiciary, which means a plurality of interests can be represented. The following essay will compare and contrast the two theories of pluralism and elitism.

Pluralism can be defined ‘as a system of interest representation in which the constituent units are non-hierarchically organised and do not exercise a monopoly of representational activity within their respective categories’ (Theories of the State).

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J. Schwarzmantel also describes it in Structures of Power as ‘in a political system there should be a plurality of different centres of power, political and social…power should be diffused…in a system where there are competing powers, a network of pressure groups’. A pluralist political system needs social and political pluralism. Social pluralism refers to a variety of groups, all having different interests which they wish to be represented. In the UK there are many different groups possessing different interests such as the media, lobby groups and trade unions. Such social pluralism is possible, but not inevitable. It is a ...

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