The Minimalist Definition: Assessing Influence on Public Policy in the United States

Democracy, the system of government present in The United States, is defined as, "a system of government meant to satisfy and represent the people as a whole,” (Lecture 3). Out of three different types of democracy, pluralist: in which people organize themselves into groups which compete for influence over public policy, deliberative: the formation of a collective will through fair debate preceding policy decisions, and minimalist; citizens electing officials among elites competing for power, I believe that the U.S. is a minimalist democracy.

Minimalist democracy relies on reasonably free and fair elections and the willingness of elites to accept the election results to allow the average citizen to feel they have some stake in the American political system. Through the ideas presented in class such as The Logic of Collective Action and Lecture 11 - Media Effects that apply to today's society, I argue that the average citizen will not actively try to influence or add input to general policy, except for those who are strongly interested in politics or those interested in one or a few specific areas of policy that are personally important to them. This in turn implies that general policy matters are left to the elected officials chosen by the public, illustrating the definition of a minimalist democracy.

As Mancur Olsen Jr. states in The Logic of Collective Action, "rational, self-interested individuals will not act to achieve their common or group interests," (2). In terms of minimalist democracy, this has the implication that the average person in today's society will not pursue influence over policy matters. Disproving the theory of pluralist democracy, Olsen shows that usually individuals will not group together to add input in policy.

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Even if an individual agrees with the views of a large interest group, they may not participate due to the feeling that their small contribution to the political system will have no effect on policy. This means that those who are elected are given the job of developing policy without the average citizen's feedback. The only participation in government for the average person would therefore be through voting, and as minimalist democracy is defined, their input ends after leaders are elected.

As Lecture 3 quoted Joseph Schumpeter, "for the private citizen musing over national affairs there is no scope for such a will and no task at which it could develop. He is a member of an unworkable committee, the committee of the whole nation, and this is why he expends less disciplined effort on mastering a political problem than he expends on a game of bridge." Ultimately, the average individual has little interest in politics and policy and will not put forth effort to create ideas or a group of similar ideas and will instead leave decisions to elected officials, thus proving that the U.S. is a minimalist democracy.

Especially contrary to the definition of deliberative democracy, the average person's input through voting instead of debating before deciding on policy will still result in the good policy that is a benefit of minimalist democracy even without a direct way to tell elected officials what their views on policy may be. According to Lavine, Johnston, and Steenburgen's The Ambivalent Partisan, "by relying on knowledge, expectations, and beliefs about the two major political parties, partisan cues can allow citizens to make reasonable choices without having more detailed information," (3). Assuming that a person would want to minimize the effort needed to make decisions, they would not willingly develop their own opinions on policy unless they were extremely interested in politics.

Also, Lecture 12 states that as media choices increase, there is a greater polarization in political knowledge. In today's society with many different entertainment options such as cable television, Netflix, and the Internet, those with little interest in politics will not be exposed to political knowledge and information. Only those who are personally interested in seeking out political information will actively develop their own opinions on policy. This decrease in political awareness only enforces elected officials discretion in passing policy.

Citizens then rely on elected officials and partisan elites for their opinions on policy, giving those officials more discretion over what policy is passed in their own interests since they know that their constituents will generally be in agreement with their views. With this kind of power, it may be expected that politicians would pass policy that only benefits them, instead of considering the public. But politicians only gain the power they have from being elected by the public so according to Lecture 12, politicians want reelection. They will make decisions based on the effect certain policy choices would have on their chances of being reelected, and this in turn ensures that policy represents the ideas that are more or less best for the public, because if the public is happy then the politician will be reelected.

Citizens without much interest in politics may have little reason to vote at all, since many may believe that their small amount of input will not make much of a difference. How then, one may wonder, is the minimalist democracy's requirement for free and fair elections maintained? As stated in Lecture 15, people vote for reasons of socialization and they "internalize norms of political participation." Basically, someone will vote simply to feel involved and present in society.

This is proven by Green and Gerber's Get out the Vote!: How to Increase Voter Turnout, "many nonvoters will vote if they think that others are watching. Some of the strongest experimental effects occur when voters are reminded that voting is a matter of public record," (137). Making the average citizen feel they have more at stake in the political system through public political participation allows the facilitation of the free and fair election that is part of minimalist democracy.

Today's society reflects not pluralist nor deliberative democracy, but minimalist because for the average person who is generally uninterested in politics, their input concerning politics ends after they elect officials among elites as a means of feeling involved in society, and leave policy decisions to be made by those elected. The free and fair elections are accepted by officials to make citizens feel like they have more at stake in politics. The public mainly looks to partisan leaders for knowledge about policy allowing politicians to create policy in line with their own views, but still make decisions according to the general public's opinions in order to have a greater chance of being reelected, resulting in the stability and good policy that are benefits of minimalist democracy.

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