Pluralism in the United States

After reading "Wilson’s Theories of Governance," the Pluralist Theory seems to best describe democracy in the United States. Pluralism can be described as groups accepting each others' beliefs and coexisting despite disagreements. Pluralism does not give power to one person. The theory is also based around the idea that “political resources, such as money, prestige, expertise, organizational position, and access to the mass media, are so widely scattered in our society and in the hands of such a variety of persons that no single elite has anything like a monopoly on them” (Wilson’s Theories of Governance).  Because these resources are spread out among elites, no individual could possibly dominate the political process. Compromises, alliances and political haggling must occur in order to create change. Different groups compete for the government’s attention.  The people who have political resources can affect the outcome of decisions on certain policies with the help of their followers. The political resources and the amount of followers can help shed light on different ideas that people find important.  By collecting followers to support different ideas, pluralism is a theory of democracy that is constantly observed in the United States.

An example of pluralism in the United States is when Martin Luther King Jr. led the Civil Rights movement. He became President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957. At this point, his political resource (a high organizational position) gave him the means of starting a movement with the possibility of gaining supporters. “In the eleven-year period between 1957 and 1968, King traveled over six million miles and spoke over twenty-five hundred times, appearing wherever there was injustice, protest, and action; and meanwhile he wrote five books as well as numerous articles. In these years, he led a massive protest in Birmingham, Alabama, that caught the attention of the entire world, providing what he called a coalition of conscience” (NobelPrize.org). Martin Luther King Jr. demonstrated pluralism by protesting and rallying for change with the help of his supporters. As I mentioned before, people who have political resources can affect the outcome of decisions. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered the “I Have A Dream” speech which was arguably one of the most influential speeches in U.S history. Two hundred and fifty thousand people were in attendance. John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson took a liking to King and recognized his efforts.   In 1965, President Johnson passed the Voting Rights Act which allowed black people to vote.  King’s constant, non-violent protests and mass of followers led him to achieve his goals and get attention from the government. He also embraced the pluralist view that all groups should accept each other. In his 1964 Nobel Prize speech, he said that we are all in the “world house in which we have to live together.” Martin Luther King Jr. is one example of pluralism in America.

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A more recent example of pluralism can be seen through the Black Lives Matter movement. The supporters of that movement believe that black people are treated violently by police officers. They have held numerous protests to spread awareness of their cause.  Their protests have been televised on the news, a strong political resource, for all to see. They are trying to help everyone in the world coexist without violence, and especially fix the relationship between blacks and law enforcement. Like Martin Luther King Jr., the Blacks Lives Matter supporters are pluralists because they are fighting for a cause with protests, they want harmony among all people, and they are gaining more support as their movement continues.

Pluralism is the main form of democracy in the United States because people can use their political resources to gain support for movements they find important.