politics 4 schumpeter

8/13/2019 Politics 4 Schumpeter

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What do the people do in a representative democracy?

Political and historical changes bring back to us as a topic of discussion the "sovereignty" of the

majority and the political it would take. Democratic rule started to develop outside the narrow

boarders of the city-state, within which it was created and developed. New forms of governments were

about to be formed, which contribute to the participation in the exercise of power from all citizens.

These forms of government were found in the institution of representation. At the same time, the senseof public sovereignty, the abolishment of social privileges and the equality of law towards everybody,

contributed to the making the legislative power stronger, because it consisted of those who represented

the will of people. In this new form of representative democracy, the people were not just consenting to

any already taken decisions, but was considered to play an essential role in the exercise of power

through its representatives. Thus, the Parliament's power was legitimised as being people's legal

representative and the other power were legitimised through the decision's of the Parliament. Public

sovereignty was not symbolic anymore; it was rather meaningful and effective. This combination of

"democracy" and "representation", gave birth to the contemporary form of democracy and re-defined

the meaning of political equality. In this new form of i governance, the participation of the people in

the elections of representatives, was considered as the most important expression of participation in

political life. However, the right to vote was not catholic from the very beginning of representativedemocracy, but it was primarily entitled to the owners of property or generally speaking to the middle

class. It took years and many bloody revolutions for rights to be asserted and for the right to vote to be

exercised from all social strata. Since then, democracy and political participation should be seen

through the lenses of representation. ( Rees, 1972, p.37-50)

After representative democracy has been established, its notion has been treated as an unambiguous

phenomenon. However there are many rival theories or models of democracy , each offering its own

account of people's sovereignty. This shows that democratic rule can be justified on different grounds

and aspects. Democracy has developed different theories like that of classical democracy, of

protective democracy, developmental democracy and socialist democracy and also different aspects of

democracy, like the marxist theory and the elitist theory. Attempting to explain what people do in a

representative democracy , according to Joseph Schumpeter's theory on representative democracy, it is

important to use a logical framework, within Schumpeter made his account on democracy. Schumpeter

was an elitist, was a modern elitist. Like Schumpeter, certain elite theorists had argued that a measure

of democratic accountability is consistent with the elite rule. However, classical elitists portrayed the

elite as a cohesive body , bound together by common or overlapping interests. competitive elitism

( realist or democratic elitism) highlights the significance or elite rivalry. That means that the elite is

divided and Schumpeter was associated with the group of democratic elitists, as he offers a "realistic'

model of democracy in his work "Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy" ( 1942). ( Heywood, 1997, p.

66)

What is meant, however, when we use the term representative democracy;it is a limited and indirectform of democracy. It is limited in that popular participation in government is infrequent and brief,

being restricted to the act of voting every few years. it is indirect in that the public do not exercise

power themselves. They merely select those who will rule on their behalf. This form of rule is

democratic only insofar as representation establishes a reliable and effective link between the

government and the governed. This is sometimes expressed in the notion of an electoral mandate. In

this system of representation, the citizens can participate in common life in a practicable form ( by

voting),avoiding at the same time the burden of decision-making, thus making possible a division of

labour in politics. In a representative democracy, government is placed on the hands of those with


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that this theory clarifies the relationship between democracy and freedom or equality. Democracy does

not require or guarantee freedom, other that that "everyone is free to compete for political leadership

by presenting himself to the electorate", and he continues by saying that "free , that is, in the same

sense in which everyone is free to start another textile mill" ( Schumpeter, 1942, 272). This likely to

create general freedom for everybody. Thus, the only way that people can control the leader and

exercise power is simply by electing them or evicting them.

Perhaps not surprisingly then, Schumpeter considers political leadership as having a principal role in

taking initiative and exercising sovereignty. Thus, in this representative democracy the will of the

society or of social groups is not expressed directly into politics, but through political agendas, which

are created by those who compete for taking the power. The politicians take initiative to participate in

this competition for leadership. However, the competition for acquiring power in a democracy, give

the opportunity to people to enjoy individual freedom of expression and choice. It also gives greater

power and flexibility to various pressure groups and to party members, who support different parties in

exchange for their own personal development. Therefore, this representative democracy has a lot of

advantages. People have the power to vote or not to vote for a candidate and thus can act with certain

limits; people can participate equally in this procedure, and while have no real initiative in decision-

making, they can still choose their leader. In this representative democracy, the "general will" of thepeople goes through a transition and it is replaced by the will of the majority, who also decides in

democracy. Thus, Joseph Schumpeter points out that this democracy seems to function as a free

market, where businesses-parties compete each other, while the individual seems to behave more as a

consumer rather than a citizen, whose personal choice will dictate the future leader. ( MacPherson,

1986, p.116).

Having saw how Schumpeter portrayed what people do in a representative democracy, i consider it

rather useful to look at some criticisms that have been levelled against his theory of democracy.

Schumpeter is wrong that democracy can be of instrumental value it is also of intrinsic value. His

argument is necessarily an opportunist about democracy does not go through. Empirically, it may be

true that everyone is an opportunist about democracy in periods of transition to democratic rule, but it

does not have to be true. And, it does not seem to be true of the leading forces in established

democracies. ( Mackie, 2004, lectures on Schumpeter's Leadership Democracy)

Furthermore, another criticism could be made on his idea about political leader. He thinks that

political leader can acquire power to decide through elections. However, should rather acquire

authority to decide rightly. In the way he sees the role of politicians, it seems that he considers politics

as a profession ,where politicians deal with like businessmen deal with a product of consumption.

Politicians that manage to be elected are not necessarily able to make good decisions. This criticism

should be also seen in conjunction to the fact that the people's vote should be also made after

consideration; they need to cast the "right" vote that can help define democracy. This is the pointwhere Manin corrects Schumpeter by directing our attention to elections as "the most important

feature of representative systems that allows voters to influence the decisions of their representative".

Manin adds to this, that the modern representative democracy is also distinguished from the fact that

elections take place in a regular and pre-defined time. ( Manin, 1997)

Another problem with the Schumpeterian democracy is the fact that Schumpeter claims that electoral

competition for political leadership is easy to measure. This is where his problem is. Schumpeter's

definition of democracy is proceduralist. it is a lot easier to measure procedures than their outcomes.

That means that is a lot easier to measure the presence or absence of election that to measure the


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common will, which arises as an outcome of it. ( Manin, 1997)

In conclusion, I would like to say that they always many advantages and disadvantages in the

representative democracy. Schumpeter sees people in a representative democracy to be able to enjoy

social mobility. Although the people do not have the power or the authority to rule, however they can

still equally participate in the race to leadership. People in a representative democracy have political

rights to participate in politics and that contributes to the creation of a free and merit-based procedureto elect leaders, which is considered rather important for the gaining of authority from the most

talented ones. Therefore, despite the fact that Schumpeter does not pay particular attention to the

participation of the people, on the other side believes and promotes a political equality of each

individual to competing for authority. Thus, within a representative democracy a safe ground for free

action for citizens have been secured.

References

Heywood, A., Politics, 1997 MacMillan Foundations

MacPherson, G.B, Possessive Individualism , 2011, Oxford University press

Mackie, G., Lecture on Schumpeter's Leadership Democracy, 2004, University of California, San

Diego

Manin, B., The Principles of representative government, 1997, Cambridge Univerisity Press

Rees, J., Equality, 1972, Pall Mall Press

Schumpeter, J., Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy, 1942, London Allen and Unwin

politics 4 schumpeter

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