Glossary of economics research
Results of search for democracy follow:
democracy:
Literally "rule by the people". This is a dictionary definition and
is not considered sharp enough for academic use. Schumpeter (1942) contrasts
these two definitions below and regards only the second one as useful and
plausible enough to work with:
"The eighteenth-century philosophy of democracy may be couched in the
following definition: the democratic method is that institutional arrangement
for arriving at political decisions which realizes the common good by making
the people itself decide issues through the election of individuals who are to
assemble in order to carry out its will." (p 250)
This "classical" definition has the problem that the will of the
people is not clearly defined here (e.g. consider voting paradoxes) or known
(perhaps even to the people at the time), and this can lead to ambiguity about
whether a given political system is democratic. The following definition is
preferred for its clarity but has a modern feel that is at some distance from
the original dictionary definition. Political representation is assumed to be
necessary here.
"[T]he democratic method is that institutional arrangement for arriving
at political decisions in which individuals acquire the power to decide by
means of a competitive struggle for the people's vote." (p 269) More
clearly: the democratic method is one in which people campaign competitively
for the people's votes to achieve the power to make public decisions. This
definition is the sharpest.
Source: Schumpeter, Joseph R. 1950. Capitalism, Socialism, and
Democracy, third edition. (First edition 1942.) Harper & Row. New
York.
Contexts: political economy
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