POLS 110 Lecture Notes - Archos, Veto, Constitutional Basis Of Taxation In Australia
10 Apr 2013
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How many of the people does it take to make decisions for the political community: unanimity, clear majority, plurality, minority, each of these options are problematic. The idea of choosing reps is the only way you can operationalize): all of these options are also problematic, even the representative democracy has difficulties because it involves an idea that doesn t actually exist. The idea behind it is that we end up as the demos, being governed by a select few, and the idea is that we allow ourselves to be governed because we give this process our consent. Hypothetical consent: consent of the governed, though hypothetical, one part. The other part is periodic accountability, and that is not at all hypothetical. Periodic accountability: those that make decisions on our behalf have to periodically become accountable to those whom they hypothetically represent. The importance of assemblies in this democratic option. Universal political functions: representation, legitimation; serves to legitimize the system, political recruitment.
