Explain the main ideas of a pluralist model in a political process Essay

Explain the main ideas of a pluralist model in a political process - Essay Example In the elections, voters will support only those political parties which stand for their ideologies and beliefs. Pluralism believes that politics and decision making processes are some of the duties of a government. Pluralists believe that no other entities like religion or judiciary has any role in politics or decision making even though such entities may have its own role in other matters. This paper analyses the main ideas pluralist model in a political process. Pluralists note that if a majority of people do not like what their representatives are doing, they can vote them out of office at the next election. Representatives, therefore, have to act in a way that is pleasing to the majority. They consider voting to be of only irregular significance. General elections occur periodically and individuals are asked to vote for packages of policies put together by political parties. Therefore, voters do not have an opportunity to wield influence on the specific issues that concern them; so pluralists claim that people are able to exercise power between elections by joining interest groups - such as political parties, trade unions and other pressure groups. Group activity, they argue, is vital to the successful functioning of the political system (Pluralism) It is practically difficult to allow an elected government to function only for a short time period because of the huge expenses needed for general elections. Tax payer’s money used for conducting elections and if the elections happen in every year, the public will suffer a lot. Because of the above awareness, elections usually held in democratic countries only in every four or five years. In other words an elected government need not worry much about the public support or influence for four or five years. They can function as they like during their four or five year term if they have majority support in the parliament. In other words, public forced to wait for four or five years to defeat the government , if it functions against the will of them. It is not a good practice in a parliamentary democracy. So, public tries to exercise their power or influence on government through other nongovernmental groups such as political parties, pressure groups, interest groups, trade union etc. Trade union strikes or public agitations are happening in most of the democratic countries in order to exert pressure or power on the governments. In India like democratic countries, people often conduct huge protests whenever the government tries to impose certain policies against them. For example, India government recently increased the petrol and cooking gas prices because of the increase in crude oil prices in global market. Public forced to conduct several agitations against the government and succeeded in reducing the prices up to certain extent. Opposition political parties often join public when they conduct agitations against the government in order to increase their public support. â€Å"Inter est group leaders have more knowledge regarding the inner workings of government than ordinary citizens and therefore are able to channel democratic voices to the politicians in power more effectively† (Pluralist Model). In short, group activity is vital in controlling a government according to the principles of pluralism. The role of the government in a Pluralist Democracy is to protect and promote diversity.