How the answer moves
The flow snapshot — the routes in, the body, the counter-view and the routes out.
Flow snapshot — how the answer moves
Intro routes
classical democracy promises government of/by the people → elitist theory denies it is possible → power always rests with a small organised minority people may vote but do not rule → democracy reduced to competition among elites, not self-government
Body flow
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)
Counter-view
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)
Conclusion routes
even softened, people choose rulers rather than govern → denial holds in the full sense of self-rule 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.
