Evaluate The Circumstances In Which Pluralism Will Develop

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Evaluate the Circumstances in Which Pluralism Will Develop

Pluralism is a system of government that allows and encourages public participation so the state can satisfy the needs of the people. This is achieved through a multitude of organisations, such as pressure groups, trade unions, environmentalists and civil rights activists, seeking to influence the making of laws and policies. It ensures that power is dispersed rather than concentrated within a select few and enables minority groups to voice their opinion.

If Pluralism is to develop, it can't be possible for a single group to dominate. Political force exerted by one group will be counteracted by equal and opposite political force exerted by other groups. For that reason, there are multiple centres of power and authority, as opposed to one where the state controls people's actions. This encourages political participation as everyone can exercise influence over decision makers. An example of this would be Medieval Europe where the Monarchy and Church were co-equal rulers in their different spheres.

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In democracies, people vote for representatives and in the UK, MPs have this role. If the majority don't like what their representatives are doing, they can vote them out of office at elections. This means representatives have to act in a way which satisfies the majority. But our electoral system often produces representatives who are unrepresentative because only those voters who voted for the winner are represented by their member of parliament. Another problem is that this system doesn’t allow voters to influence specific issues. Therefore people then join interest groups such as pressure groups. These are a vital for ...

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