Pluralism Defines Our Democracy

Although many posts promote the concept of elitism, the theory of pluralism best describes American democracy because it includes every aspect of American society. Pluralism is the theory that political resources are so spread out in our society that no individual elite could have complete control over all of them. Since political resources; such as money, prestige, and position are this separated among different elites, all interests can affect the results of decisions.

Our democracy may seem controlled by the few, but political power is shared in a way that absolute authority over all, or even most assets is impossible. In order for a person or organization to dominate all other resources, the people of these resources must agree with that person or organization. Seeing that elites rely on the approval of their followers, "they are responsive to their followers' interests, and thus they provide representation to almost all citizens affected by a policy" (Wilson's Theories of Governance 39). Without the acceptance of the majority, an elite cannot advance any further and achieve political power. A great example of this is the Electoral College, which stresses the influence of votes on the election of a politician. This system decisively limits a candidate's chances of political power.

In addition, the United States includes a wide variety of people with different racial backgrounds and conflicting beliefs. The increase in different races during this decade and the increase of of the LGBT community also changed the makeup of the government and ultimately, its behavior. This makes it much harder for elites to control different resources because it is more difficult to satisfy the general public. Politicians have to work with the needs of different kinds of people, which gives power to the people. The events in Charlottesville particularly highlighted the theory of pluralism because it involved the clash of white supremacists and anti-racists. This event reinforces the concept that no single group can dominate the political process due to other opposing groups. The white supremacists cannot achieve the approval of American people because they are not accepted by other people.

As seen above, the African-American population has increased from 12% in 2010 to 25% in 2015 and the Hispanic population has also increased.The rapidly changing demography of our country is shaping a new identity of what American democracy represents. Along with other influences, these factors make the political resources of this country a more pluralistic democracy.
Further Sources:
thehttps://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/09/08/remember-those-militias-at-the-charlottesville-unite-the-right-rally-heres-what-they-believe/?utm_term=.a381d0bdfb8a