The Semi-Sovereign People

The Semi-Sovereign People

Elmer E. Schattschneider makes an argument for a political system dominated by political parties. He further contends that this is the only way of achieving democracy in a modern America.

Thesis

The single most important line to remember is this: "The flaw in the pluralist heaven is that the heavenly chorus sings with a strong upper-class accent."

Main Argument

A central assumption underlying the work the nature of political organization depends on the conflicts exploited in the political system, which ultimately is what politics, is about."

Understanding the scope of conflict is a central question in this book. Some want to keep conflict narrowly constrained and "private." If so, economic powerhouses will win out, because they would be dominant in that domain (Schattschneider, 1975). Others, who wish government to get involved, try to broaden the scope of conflict so that political institutions get involved. If this is the case, then a different dynamic will be at work.

Discussion

In his view, "Democratic government is the greatest single instrument for the socialization of conflict in the American community." By widening the scope of conflict, the people can become important players (Schattschneider, 1975).

A second important argument that he makes represents a critique of the view that democracy is enhanced by the existence of organized interest groups, since these represent the views of many people and inject a democratic influence into the political process. Schattschneider demurs. First, the members of these interest groups are not typical of all people. In a famous line, he notes that: "The vice of the groupist theory is that it conceals the most significant aspect of the system. 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." (Schattschneider, 1975)

Anyway, this is a wonderful little book. Of course, there are some issues that emerge: sometimes arguments are not developed enough (brevity in this book is a plus, but it sometimes seems to leave some points "hanging"); he may downplay some positive aspects of the interest group system. However, in the main, his arguments remain as fresh today as they were when the book first came out, in 1960 (Schattschneider, 1975).

Schattschneider criticizes group theory for trying to explain too much and assuming that government merely ratifies the existing balance of power among groups. The outcome of a controversy is often determined by the success or failure of efforts to enlarge its scope and that the conflicts among private groups are taken into the legislative arena by those groups seeking to alter the power balance. Pressure groups fail to represent the lower income groups. The flaw in the pluralist heaven is that the heavenly chorus sings with a strong upper-class accent. A vigorously competitive party system offers the semi-sovereign people their best chance for a role in the decision-making process, while one party politics tends to vest political power in the hands of those people who already have economic ...