a complex of social norms and rules observed to maintain social order to exercise power to compare conformity to the existing system of authority and to provide the means for changes in the legal or administrative system
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Jürgen Habermas (1998) emphasizes that democratic will formation in both direct and representative democracy is reached through a deliberative process. The general will or decisions of the people emerge through the mutual interaction of citizens in the public sphere. The underlying norm of the democratic process is what Habermas (1990) calls the ideal speech situation. An ideal speech situation is one in which every individual is permitted to take part in public discussion equally: to question assertions and introduce ideas. Ideally no individual is prevented from speaking (not by arbitrary restrictions on who is permitted to speak, nor by practical restrictions on participation like poverty or lack of education). To the degree that everyone accepts this norm of openness and inclusion, in free debate the best ideas will “rise to the top” and be accepted by the majority. On the other hand, when the norms of the ideal speech situation are violated, the process of democratic will formation becomes distorted and open to manipulation.
Political Demand and Political Supply
2011 Canadian popular vote by province and territory. The Conservitives won 166 of the seats.
Figure 17.14. The outcome of political party competition in the 2011 election. (Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons).
In practice democratic will formation in representative democracies takes place largely through political party competition in an electoral cycle. Two factors explain the dynamics of democratic party systems (Kitschelt 1995). Firstly, political demand refers to the underlying societal factors and social changes that create constituencies of people with common interests.