Where does political power lie in liberal democratic states? Apply one (or more) of the analytical perspectives studies on this unit to a case-study of your choice.
Power within politics is a key concept, Hay (2002, p.168) states that ‘power is to political analysis what the economy is to economics’. Political power, as Dahl (1975, pp. 202-203) describes is “A has power over B to the extent that he can get B to do something that B would not otherwise do”. It is key that power and authority within states are distinguished between – power being equated with coercion and authority with consent (Garner, Ferdinand, Lawson, 2016, p.49). However, although we can define power and authority separately, when in practice, governments will use both (Hoffman, Graham, 2006 pp.4-11). In liberal democratic states, the citizens rule at one remove from executive decision-making, but they do not participate directly in policy making, but nominate representatives through elections (Dunleavy, 1987, pp.4-5), therefore the power is spread throughout the state and held predominantly in the hands of the electives. This essay will look at two analytical perspectives to distinguish where power lies: elitism and critical race theory. It will assess which perspective is the most accurate and relevant explanation for where power lies within the United Kingdom.
Classical elitism, as argued by C.Wright Mills (1956), is the concept that society is concentrated into the hands of a powerful elite, dominating the economic, military, and governmental spheres. Classical elite theorist Gaeatano Mosca (1939, p.50) argues that: “In all societies…two classes of people appear – a class that rules and a class that is ruled. The first class, always the less numerous, performs all political functions, monopolizes power and enjoys the advantages that power brings, whereas the second, the more numerous class, is directed and controlled by the first.” They are classed as “elite” because of their similar, privileged, social and educational backgrounds due to their higher economic status. Modern elitist approaches are less radical and argue that while this group remains territorially based within a nation state, they will still have links or membership to global elite networks in order to maintain their power base in society due to global imperatives such as increased globalisation. Furthermore, the members are chosen by virtue of a broader range of resources: economic, political, ideological or technical (Evans 2006). Thus an elitist government can be defined as one which consists of a small group of politicians who share the same privileged background, being education and wealth. The argument that the elite are those that make up the government within a liberal democratic state, shows that the power lies within the hands of the elite due to the function of this style of leadership.
There is a strong argument that elitism exists within the UK government. A key feature of distinguishing the “elite” in the government can be viewed as those who received a ‘better’ education. For example, those who went to private schools – in particular public schools and attended top universities, notably Oxbridge. In a report for the National Centre for Social Research survey (December 2011), it was found that private education was leading to “social apartheid’ and a segregated elite” and identified a “sense of superiority bonus” from attending a private school. In a recent paper by Audickas and Cracknell (2018) on the social background of MPs found that one third of MP’s elected in 2015 attended a fee-paying school. Furthermore, conservative MPs (currently the most seats in the House of Commons compared to other parties) are the most likely to have attended fee-paying schools with 44%. Furthermore, between 1979 and and 2017, the proportion of MPs who are university graduates has increased, with now 84% having graduated from University, around 23% coming from an Oxbridge background (in the UK this figure is less than 1%) These statistics present the idea that access to the House of Commons, thus access to power in Great Britain, is more likely to be obtainable if you come from a wealthy background, therefore able to pay for private school, and be of reasonable net worth and intelligence in order to attend University. Hence, the power in Great Britain is in the hands of a powerful elite.
However, it can be argued that the elitist theory fails to show where power lies. This is because it is challenging to prove that a ruling elite actually exists as one would have to establish that there is a coherent, conscious, and conspiratorial group which dominates a country’s decision-making (Garner, Ferdinand, Lawson, 2016, p.62). In order to prove and establish this, one would have to be a part of this group, which would only be obtainable through election. In addition, the way in which a liberal democratic state functions is through the citizens of that state voting their electives into parliament, therefore it can be argued that the power is firstly in the hands of the general public, and then in the hands of the representatives. This can also be used as an argument to show that an elitist government cannot form as the electives cannot be guaranteed. Although, Walker in his paper on the critique of the elitist theory of democracy (1966) highlights the power that representatives may hold over their constituency. This is because they can appeal to what those people want, and then fail to represent their needs within parliament, acting on self-interest instead.
A second analytical perspective which can be used to distinguish where power lies within liberal democratic states is critical race theory. This theory is based upon viewing racism as a “firmly entrenched structure” which systematically benefits Whites at the expense of people of colour. (Brown, 2003, p.2). It’s key focus is the theory of whiteness that there is a white privilege, in which whites look at themselves as better than others. This is carried out through unconscious acts and cultural practices – and this goes unseen by white people (Frankenberg, 1993). This, in practice, creates a white supremacy which is the key focus of where power lies. In liberal democratic states, the critical race theory would argue that the power lies within the whites in society, however this may be through discreet and almost unnoticeable practices.
The concept of white supremacy can be seen in the United Kingdom. The term “BAME” is used to describe black and Asian minorities – those who are not white. In a report by the Guardian in partnership with Operation Black Vote (2017), it was found that Britain’s most powerful elite were 97% white. When 1,000 of the UK’s top political, financial, judicial, cultural and security figures, only 3.4% had a BAME background and only 0.7% of these were women. Furthermore, there were no BAME supremos in the police, military, supreme court, security services, top consultancies or top law firms. Furthermore, when looking into Audickas and Cracknell’s paper on the social background of MPs (2018), 52 non-white MPs were elected at the 2017 General Election, which represents only 8% of all MPs. This figure was the highest number and proportion of ethnic minority MPs returned at a general election to date.
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