AP Gov | 1.2 Types of Democracy | NEW!
Summary
TLDRThis educational video delves into the nuances of democracy, distinguishing between direct, representative, participatory, pluralist, and elite forms. It explains the U.S. as a republic with elements of each democracy type, highlighting the Constitution's role in balancing power between the people and their representatives. The video also touches on how amendments have expanded suffrage, and the First Amendment's impact on enabling participatory and pluralist democracy through freedom of speech, assembly, and the press.
Takeaways
- 🗳️ Democracy means rule by the people, but the U.S. Constitution established the U.S. as a republic, not a democracy.
- 🎯 Direct democracy allows people to vote directly on policies, which is practiced at some state and local levels through initiatives and referenda.
- 🌟 Representative democracy is the U.S. federal system where citizens vote for representatives who make policies on their behalf.
- 🤔 The framers of the Constitution were wary of direct democracy, fearing it could lead to mob rule due to a lack of trust in the people's judgment.
- 👥 Participatory democracy encourages broad citizen involvement in politics and civil society, such as through protests and social movements.
- 🏛️ Pluralist democracy highlights group-based policymaking, with political parties and interest groups playing key roles in policy agendas.
- 🤝 The distinction between participatory and pluralist democracy can be blurry, as both involve active citizen engagement but differ in their focus on individual or collective action.
- 🔱 Elite democracy suggests a limited role for the general public, with a small group of elites wielding significant political power.
- 🏛️ The U.S. Constitution can be seen as promoting elements of all three types of democracy: elite, participatory, and pluralist.
- 📜 Constitutional amendments like the 15th, 19th, and 26th have expanded suffrage, allowing for more inclusive participatory democracy.
- 🔗 The First Amendment's protections for freedom of speech, press, and assembly support both pluralist and participatory democratic practices.
Q & A
What does the term 'democracy' mean?
-Democracy means rule by the people, where citizens have a direct say in the decision-making process.
Why did the U.S. Constitution establish the country as a republic rather than a democracy?
-The framers of the U.S. Constitution established a republic because they didn't trust the people with direct power, fearing it could lead to mob rule.
What is the difference between direct democracy and representative democracy?
-Direct democracy allows people to vote directly on policies, while representative democracy involves citizens voting for representatives who make policies on their behalf.
How does the concept of participatory democracy differ from pluralist democracy?
-Participatory democracy emphasizes broad citizen participation and active involvement in government, while pluralist democracy focuses on group-based policymaking through political parties and interest groups.
What are examples of direct democracy at the state level?
-Examples of direct democracy at the state level include initiatives, where citizens can propose bills or amendments for a vote, and referenda, where state government members propose bills for public approval.
How does the concept of elite democracy contrast with participatory and pluralist democracies?
-Elite democracy emphasizes a limited role for the people and a disproportionate amount of political power held by a small group of elites, contrasting with the broader participation in participatory and pluralist democracies.
Which amendments to the U.S. Constitution have expanded suffrage and thus supported participatory democracy?
-The 15th, 19th, and 26th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution have expanded suffrage, allowing more people, including all races, sexes, and those 18 and older, to vote and participate in politics.
How does the First Amendment relate to both pluralist and participatory democracy?
-The First Amendment's protections for freedom of speech, press, and assembly support both pluralist democracy by allowing the formation of interest groups and political parties, and participatory democracy by enabling individual expression and protest.
What is the role of the Electoral College in the context of U.S. democracy?
-The Electoral College plays a role in the U.S. presidential election, where electors cast votes on behalf of the people, reflecting a republican form of government rather than direct democracy.
How does the video suggest that the U.S. Constitution promotes different types of democracy?
-The video suggests that the U.S. Constitution promotes different types of democracy by establishing a republic with representative elements, supporting participatory democracy through amendments that expanded suffrage, and allowing for pluralist democracy through the freedom of assembly.
Outlines
🗳️ Democracy Types and the U.S. Constitution
This paragraph introduces three types of democracy: participatory, pluralist, and elite democracy. It clarifies that democracy means 'rule by the people,' contrasting it with the U.S. being a republic, not a democracy. Direct democracy, where citizens vote directly on policies, is noted as not present at the federal level but exists in some state and local governments through initiatives and referenda. The U.S. is described as a representative democracy, where citizens vote for representatives who make policies. The paragraph also discusses the framers' distrust of direct democracy due to the fear of mob rule and introduces the concept of finding the right balance of people's power in government. Participatory democracy is highlighted as encouraging broad citizen involvement in politics and civil society, with examples like social movements. The paragraph concludes by mentioning that the U.S. Constitution promotes elements of all three types of democracy, with the Electoral College representing elite democracy, the First Amendment allowing for participatory democracy, and the freedom of assembly setting the stage for pluralist democracy.
🎬 Conclusion and Call to Action
The second paragraph serves as a conclusion to the video, urging viewers to engage with the content by liking and subscribing to the channel. It also promotes the Ultimate Review Packet as a resource for studying and test preparation, offering practice tests, study guides, and exclusive videos. The paragraph ends with a signature off, identifying the production as a LaMoney Production, and a reminder to viewers to look forward to the next video.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Democracy
💡Direct Democracy
💡Representative Democracy
💡Participatory Democracy
💡Pluralist Democracy
💡Elite Democracy
💡Mob Rule
💡Initiatives
💡Referenda
💡Electoral College
💡Amendments
Highlights
Democracy means rule by the people.
The U.S. Constitution established the U.S. as a republic, not a democracy.
Direct democracy allows people to vote directly on policies, but it's not used at the federal level in the U.S.
Some states have initiatives and referenda, which are examples of direct democracy.
The U.S. is a representative democracy where citizens vote for representatives who make policies.
The framers of the Constitution didn't trust the people with direct power, fearing it could lead to mob rule.
Participatory democracy emphasizes broad citizen participation in politics and civil society.
Examples of participatory democracy include social movements like Black Lives Matter and the Tea Party.
Pluralist democracy focuses on group-based policymaking, such as political parties and interest groups.
Federalist No. 10 is associated with pluralist democracy.
The difference between participatory and pluralist democracy can be blurry, as seen in movements like March for Our Lives.
Elite democracy emphasizes a limited role for the people, with a small group of elites holding significant political power.
The Constitution promotes elements of all three types of democracy: participatory, pluralist, and elite.
The Electoral College exemplifies elite democracy within the U.S. political system.
The First Amendment's protections of freedom of speech and press support participatory democracy.
Amendments like the 15th, 19th, and 26th expanded suffrage, promoting participatory democracy.
The Constitution's First Amendment freedom of assembly allows for the creation of interest groups and political parties, supporting pluralist democracy.
The video encourages viewers to like and subscribe for more educational content.
The Ultimate Review Packet is recommended for study and test preparation, offering practice tests and exclusive videos.
Transcripts
What’s up everybody! There are three types of democracy that this lesson focuses on:
participatory, pluralist, and elite democracy. But before we get to those,
let’s start with the basics. And smash that like button and subscribe if you haven’t already!
First of all, democracy means rule by the people. In the last video,
I told you that the Constitution established the U.S. as a republic not a democracy. And
yet our unit and the first two modules have the word democracy in the title. That’s kinda weird.
Truth be told, we need to be more specific when we say democracy. Direct democracy,
sometimes referred to as pure democracy, means that people vote directly on policies.
This is the type of democracy we don’t have at the federal level. But again, just to
keep you on your toes, some state and local governments have some direct democracy.
For example, some states allow for initiatives,
where citizens can write a proposed bill or amendment and then get it placed on a ballot
where it can then be voted on by the residents of that state. And some states have referenda,
basically the same idea except a member of the state government writes the bill and then it’s
placed on the ballot to be approved by the state’s residents. These are both examples
of direct democracy, which again exists only at the state level, not the federal level.
The U.S. is a representative democracy, where citizens are allowed to vote for
representatives who make the policies. If that definition sounds familiar, don’t worry,
you won’t have to distinguish between republicanism and representative democracy.
The fact of the matter is that the framers intentionally a established a republic and
not a democracy, for one thing because they didn’t trust the people. Many of them felt that
the people couldn’t be trusted with that kind of power and it would end up being mob rule.
This is where those three types of democracy mentioned at the outset come in. Since the framers
wanted the people to have some power politically and obviously the Declaration of Independence
said that people are the source of governmental power, the question becomes how much democracy
is the right amount? How much power should the people have and how is that power best exercised?
Participatory democracy emphasizes broad participation by citizens in politics and
civil society. So, this is the idea that people should be actively involved in their government,
influencing policymaking, and that their voices should be heard.
We’re thinking of things like protests, demonstrations and marches. For example,
social movements like Black Lives Matter, March for our lives, the Tea Party, or Occupy Wall
Street are all examples that got large numbers of citizens involved and participating in politics.
Your required document Brutus No. 1 can be used to support
participatory democracy but more on that later.
The second type of democracy is pluralist democracy and this emphasizes the role of
group based policymaking. The two best examples of policymaking groups are political parties and
interest groups. People form groups or political parties with likeminded people who share their
goals and values and then work together as a group to promote their policy agenda rather than each
person working in isolation. We associate Federalist No. 10 with pluralist democracy.
Admittedly, the lines between participatory and pluralist democracy can sometimes seem a little
blurry. For example, think of March for our lives. does that better embody participatory
or pluralist democracy? It has elements of both—people are actively involved,
demonstrating and marching, so that's definitely participatory but on the other hand it’s a group
of people with a united purpose trying to influence policy so it has elements
of pluralist in there as well. My advice is to take notice of what the question is emphasizing.
If it’s focused on individual actions of people, it’s probably participatory and
if it’s emphasizing the collective role of the group, it’s probably pluralist.
The third type of democracy is elite democracy,
and this emphasizes a limited or filtered role for the people where a small group
of elites have a disproportionate amount of political power. With elite democracy there is
a distrust of the people so there needs to be a filter between the people and policymaking.
A point of emphasis and debate is which of these types of democracy is promoted by the
Constitution. And the answer is kinda all of them. In some ways the Constitution embodies
elite democracy. It sets up a republican form of government where people vote for
other people to represent them and make policies. And how people kind of get to
vote for the president, but really, it’s the Electoral College who chooses the president.
But there are other parts that promote or at least make participatory democracy
possible. We can think of things like the First Amendment’s freedom of speech and
press protections. And of amendments that increased suffrage, allowing more people
to vote and have their voices heard politically. Specifically, the 15th, 19th, and 26th Amendments,
expanding the right to vote to people of all races, sexes, and ages 18 and older.
And the Constitution also sets the stage for pluralist democracy by the First Amendment’s
freedom of assembly, allowing for the creation of interest groups and political parties.
Alright, that’s it for this one! Thanks again for watching,
if this video helped please help me out with our YouTube overlords and
hit that like button and make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss anything.
Until next time, this has been a LaMoney Production.
And hey, be sure to check out the Ultimate Review Packet for all your studying and test prep needs.
Practice tests, study guides, exclusive videos. It’s all there. See you in the next video.
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