How the answer moves
The flow snapshot — the routes in, the body, the counter-view and the routes out.
Route 1 classical democracy promises government of/by the people → elitist theory denies it is possible → power always rests with a small organised minority
Route 2 people may vote but do not rule → democracy reduced to competition among elites, not self-government
classical denial: Mosca (society split into rulers and ruled) → Pareto (power always with a few; elites and counter-elites only replace one another; democracy unrealistic) → Michels (Iron Law of Oligarchy; even democratic parties turn bureaucratic and leader-dominated) → democratic elitism: Schumpeter (democracy as a method; competitive struggle for the people’s vote; people only choose rulers) → Sartori (self-governing people a delusion; leadership the core) → Mills (power elite of corporate, military and presidential insiders decides national events)
Mannheim and Aron (governed can still remove leaders; competing elites allow circulation and compromise) → pluralist and deliberative critics (civil society, media, public reasoning restrain elites)
Route 1 even softened, people choose rulers rather than govern → denial holds in the full sense of self-rule
Route 2 democracy survives only as a method of selecting and removing elites, not as rule of the people
Model answer
Handwritten, in the form it would be written in the examination hall.
Also asked on this head
Democracy — 11 questions in the Vault.
- The foundational base of western democracy has been
- Explain briefly the elite theory of democracy.
- Deliberative democracy seeks to promote democratic decision making about public issues among the citizens. Discuss
How this is taught
The same flow snapshot, built for every head of the syllabus, with the answer written in class.
The first session of Foundation 2027 is published in full.
Six programmes across three levels.