The Semi-Sovereign People

Abstract

Chapter 1: attempts to privatize or socialize conflict have often been disguised as tendencies toward the centralization or decentralization, localization or nationalization of politics. Democratic government is the greatest single instrument in socializing conflict in the American community. Chapter 2: Discusses the role of pressure politics, which is essentially the politics of small groups, and its limited scope. Although he complements Dahl and Lindbolm for their work in group theory politics, he gives strong critique to their theoretical biases. He questions the idea that special interest groups are a universal form of political organization reflecting all interests. As a matter of fact, to suppose that everyone participates in pressure-group activity and that all interests get themselves organized in the pressure system is to destroy the meaning of this form of politics. The pressure system makes sense only as the political instrument of a segment of the community. It gets results by being selective and biased: if everyone got into the act, the unique advantages of this form of organization would be destroyed, for it is possible that if all interests could be mobilized the result would be stalemate (p.34). Schattschneider continues his critique of pluralism: the flaw in the pluralist heaven is that the heavenly chorus sings with a strong upper-class accent. Probably about 90% of the people cannot get into the pressure system (p.34-35). Pressure politics is a selective process ill designed to serve diffuse interests. The system is skewed, loaded, and unbalanced in favor of a fraction of a minority. (p.35). Chapter 3: The limitations of pressure politics become more evident when an attempt is made to sue a pressure grouping some dimensions of politics other than the relatively narrow range usually reserved for it. The greatest way to test their weight is to see how they influence the presidential election (uses example of organized labor to show their influence). Special-interest groups can also have a reverse effect if they become unpopular. Chapter 4: What happens in politics depends on the way in which people are divided into factions, parties, groups, classes, etc. The outcome of the game of politics depends on which of a multitude of possible conflicts gains the dominant position. Political organization functions as the organization of bias that aims to exploit or suppress given conflicts. A potential strategy in politics is to displace or substitute conflicts so they are erased from political debate. Chapter 5: provides a case study in the changing dimensions of politics. Chapter 6: The limits of the political system: nonvoting as a case study in the scope of political conflict. Stratification (107). Because the individuals that do vote are typically those individuals that are motivated by the economic system and invovled in the community and those groups that don't vote are the opposite those that support the system are more likely to support the economic policies of a capitalist system. Chapter 7: discusses the strong role of business in dominating the nongovernmental world, in the past it was the church. Business so dominates the nongovernmental world that it looks very much like a power system able to compete with the government itself (p.116). Also, business and government are not separableeveryone belongs to both powers. The mixture between capitalism and democracy presupposes such tension. The function of democracy has been to provide the public with a second power system, an alternative power system, which can be used to counterbalance the economic power. Chapter 8: The Semi sovereign people: the role of the people in the political system is determined largely by the conflict system, for it is conflict that involves the people in the politics and the nature of conflict determines the nature of the public involvement.