The Role and Limits of Representative Democracy: An Analysis from Joseph Schumpeter, Robert Dahl, and Anthony Downs

Jochua Abrão Baloi

doi:doi:10.11648/j.jpsir.20190204.11

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The Role and Limits of Representative Democracy: An Analysis from Joseph Schumpeter, Robert Dahl, and Anthony Downs

Jochua Abrão Baloi

Published in Journal of Political Science and International Relations (Volume 2, Issue 4)

Received: 11 September 2019 Accepted: 7 October 2019 Published: 31 October 2019

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Abstract

This article comes about with the objective of analyzing in a comparative way the role and limits of representative democracy in the perspective of Joseph Schumpeter, Robert Dahl and Anthony Downs. In practice, it seeks to understand the ideas launched by these three theorists in the quest for a perception of what will become a democracy and its importance in the formation and constitution of the modern democracies. The central argument presented in this article is that in a truly democratic political system, popular participation is an essential element for the construction and execution of political actions. J. Schumpeter conceives democracy as a method that societies use to elect their representatives. R. Dahl conceives it as a polyarchy where both, the degree of incorporation of individuals and the level of institutionalization must be maximized and, A. Downs conceives democracy as a type of government where there should be fair and periodic elections, and one or more parties must compete for government control. Therefore, it is by analyzing the political thinking regarding the power and the representative democracy of these theorists that one perceives how the State left its natural character, thus assuming its civil personality, through the formation of the social contract.

Published in	Journal of Political Science and International Relations (Volume 2, Issue 4)
DOI	10.11648/j.jpsir.20190204.11
Page(s)	79-85
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2019. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Democracy, State, Government, Polyarchy

References

[1]	Alcantara, Pedro Henrique (2017). The Elites against Democracy: The Minimalist Conception in the Hegemonic Field of Democratic Theory. Criticism and Society: magazine of political culture, Uberlândia, v. 7, no. 2, 2017.
[2]	Centeno, Alison Ribeiro (2018). Confluences and Dissonances Between the theories of the democracy of Schumpeter and dahl: analysis of the criticism and some of their impacts. Rev. Field Notebooks \| Macaw \| no 25 \| P. 139-156 \| Jul. /Dec. 2018 \| and ISSN 2359-2419.
[3]	Steffens, Nikolay (2018). Debates in contemporary democratic theory: notes on the relationship between the market theories of politics and the principle of the natural identity of interests. Conjecture: Filos. Educ., V. 23, no. in particular, dossier Ethics and democracy. 2018, DOI: 10.18226 / 21784612.v23.dossie.6.
[4]	Schumpeter, Joseph A. (1961). Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy. Rio de Janeiro: Culture Fund, pp, 296, 535, 355, 357.
[5]	Silva, Pedro Gustavo de Sousa (2008). Democracy Theories: Contributions by Sartori, Dahl and Schumpeter. Urutagua Magazine. No. 15 - Apr./mai./jun./jul. 2008 - Quarterly - Maringá – Paraná, p. 162.
[6]	Miguel, Luís Felipe (2013). Democracy and Representation: Territories in Dispute. São Paulo: Unesp Publisher, p. 54.
[7]	Weber, Max (1996). Science and Politics two Vocations. São Paulo: Cultrix.
[8]	Costa, Homero de Oliveira (2007). Democracy and participation in pluralist theory. Kronos, Natal-RN, v. 8, no. 1, p. 215-228, jan./jun.
[9]	Dahl, Robert A. (1957). The Concept of Power. Behavioral Science, 2: 3 (1957: July).
[10]	Blokland, Hans (2016). Pluralism, Democracy and Political Knowledge: Robert A. Dahl and his critics on modern politics. New York: Routledge.
[11]	Bachrach, Peter; BARATZ Morton S. (1962). Two Faces of Power. The American Political Science Review, Volume 56, Issue 4 (Dec. 1962), p. 947.
[12]	Sieyès, E. M. [1788] (1988). The Bourgeois Constituent. What Is the Third State? (org. By A. W. Bastos). Rio de Janeiro: Liber Juris.
[13]	Dahl, Robert A. (2005). Polyarchy: Participation and Opposition. São Paulo: Edusp, p. 26.
[14]	Downs, Anthony (1999). An Economic Theory of Democracy. São Paulo: Edusp, pp. 28, 45, 293.
[15]	Downs, Anthony (1957). An Economic Theory of Political Action in a Democracy. Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 65, No. 2 (Apr. 1957), p. 135-150.

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Jochua Abrão Baloi. (2019). The Role and Limits of Representative Democracy: An Analysis from Joseph Schumpeter, Robert Dahl, and Anthony Downs. Journal of Political Science and International Relations, 2(4), 79-85. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jpsir.20190204.11

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Jochua Abrão Baloi. The Role and Limits of Representative Democracy: An Analysis from Joseph Schumpeter, Robert Dahl, and Anthony Downs. J. Polit. Sci. Int. Relat. 2019, 2(4), 79-85. doi: 10.11648/j.jpsir.20190204.11

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AMA Style

Jochua Abrão Baloi. The Role and Limits of Representative Democracy: An Analysis from Joseph Schumpeter, Robert Dahl, and Anthony Downs. J Polit Sci Int Relat. 2019;2(4):79-85. doi: 10.11648/j.jpsir.20190204.11

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@article{10.11648/j.jpsir.20190204.11,
  author = {Jochua Abrão Baloi},
  title = {The Role and Limits of Representative Democracy: An Analysis from Joseph Schumpeter, Robert Dahl, and Anthony Downs},
  journal = {Journal of Political Science and International Relations},
  volume = {2},
  number = {4},
  pages = {79-85},
  doi = {10.11648/j.jpsir.20190204.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jpsir.20190204.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jpsir.20190204.11},
  abstract = {This article comes about with the objective of analyzing in a comparative way the role and limits of representative democracy in the perspective of Joseph Schumpeter, Robert Dahl and Anthony Downs. In practice, it seeks to understand the ideas launched by these three theorists in the quest for a perception of what will become a democracy and its importance in the formation and constitution of the modern democracies. The central argument presented in this article is that in a truly democratic political system, popular participation is an essential element for the construction and execution of political actions. J. Schumpeter conceives democracy as a method that societies use to elect their representatives. R. Dahl conceives it as a polyarchy where both, the degree of incorporation of individuals and the level of institutionalization must be maximized and, A. Downs conceives democracy as a type of government where there should be fair and periodic elections, and one or more parties must compete for government control. Therefore, it is by analyzing the political thinking regarding the power and the representative democracy of these theorists that one perceives how the State left its natural character, thus assuming its civil personality, through the formation of the social contract.},
 year = {2019}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - The Role and Limits of Representative Democracy: An Analysis from Joseph Schumpeter, Robert Dahl, and Anthony Downs
AU  - Jochua Abrão Baloi
Y1  - 2019/10/31
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VL  - 2
IS  - 4
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Jochua Abrão Baloi

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APA Style

Jochua Abrão Baloi. (2019). The Role and Limits of Representative Democracy: An Analysis from Joseph Schumpeter, Robert Dahl, and Anthony Downs. Journal of Political Science and International Relations, 2(4), 79-85. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jpsir.20190204.11

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ACS Style

Jochua Abrão Baloi. The Role and Limits of Representative Democracy: An Analysis from Joseph Schumpeter, Robert Dahl, and Anthony Downs. J. Polit. Sci. Int. Relat. 2019, 2(4), 79-85. doi: 10.11648/j.jpsir.20190204.11

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AMA Style

Jochua Abrão Baloi. The Role and Limits of Representative Democracy: An Analysis from Joseph Schumpeter, Robert Dahl, and Anthony Downs. J Polit Sci Int Relat. 2019;2(4):79-85. doi: 10.11648/j.jpsir.20190204.11

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.jpsir.20190204.11,
  author = {Jochua Abrão Baloi},
  title = {The Role and Limits of Representative Democracy: An Analysis from Joseph Schumpeter, Robert Dahl, and Anthony Downs},
  journal = {Journal of Political Science and International Relations},
  volume = {2},
  number = {4},
  pages = {79-85},
  doi = {10.11648/j.jpsir.20190204.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jpsir.20190204.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jpsir.20190204.11},
  abstract = {This article comes about with the objective of analyzing in a comparative way the role and limits of representative democracy in the perspective of Joseph Schumpeter, Robert Dahl and Anthony Downs. In practice, it seeks to understand the ideas launched by these three theorists in the quest for a perception of what will become a democracy and its importance in the formation and constitution of the modern democracies. The central argument presented in this article is that in a truly democratic political system, popular participation is an essential element for the construction and execution of political actions. J. Schumpeter conceives democracy as a method that societies use to elect their representatives. R. Dahl conceives it as a polyarchy where both, the degree of incorporation of individuals and the level of institutionalization must be maximized and, A. Downs conceives democracy as a type of government where there should be fair and periodic elections, and one or more parties must compete for government control. Therefore, it is by analyzing the political thinking regarding the power and the representative democracy of these theorists that one perceives how the State left its natural character, thus assuming its civil personality, through the formation of the social contract.},
 year = {2019}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - The Role and Limits of Representative Democracy: An Analysis from Joseph Schumpeter, Robert Dahl, and Anthony Downs
AU  - Jochua Abrão Baloi
Y1  - 2019/10/31
PY  - 2019
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jpsir.20190204.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.jpsir.20190204.11
T2  - Journal of Political Science and International Relations
JF  - Journal of Political Science and International Relations
JO  - Journal of Political Science and International Relations
SP  - 79
EP  - 85
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2640-2785
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jpsir.20190204.11
AB  - This article comes about with the objective of analyzing in a comparative way the role and limits of representative democracy in the perspective of Joseph Schumpeter, Robert Dahl and Anthony Downs. In practice, it seeks to understand the ideas launched by these three theorists in the quest for a perception of what will become a democracy and its importance in the formation and constitution of the modern democracies. The central argument presented in this article is that in a truly democratic political system, popular participation is an essential element for the construction and execution of political actions. J. Schumpeter conceives democracy as a method that societies use to elect their representatives. R. Dahl conceives it as a polyarchy where both, the degree of incorporation of individuals and the level of institutionalization must be maximized and, A. Downs conceives democracy as a type of government where there should be fair and periodic elections, and one or more parties must compete for government control. Therefore, it is by analyzing the political thinking regarding the power and the representative democracy of these theorists that one perceives how the State left its natural character, thus assuming its civil personality, through the formation of the social contract.
VL  - 2
IS  - 4
ER  -

Copy | Download