Editing Polyarchy (section)

== Characteristics ==
Polyarchy and its procedures may be insufficient for achieving full democracy. For example, poor people may be unable to participate in the political process. Some authors see polyarchy as a form of government that is not intended for greater social justice or cultural realization or to allow the repressed to politically participate.<ref>Barry Gills, Joel Rocamora, and Richard Willson(eds), Low Intensity Democracy: Political power and the New World Order, Boulder, Westview, 1993</ref>

According to [[William I. Robinson]], it is a system where a small group actually rules on behalf of capital, and the majority’s decision-making is confined to choosing among a select number of elites within tightly controlled elective processes. It is a form of consensual domination made possible by the structural domination of the global capital, which allows concentration of political power.<ref>William I Robinson Globalisation: nine thesis of our epoch, Race & Class 38(2) 1996</ref> [[Robert A. Dahl]] and [[Charles E. Lindblom]] noted that [[political bargaining]] is an essential feature of polyarchy, particularly in the US.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1146/annurev-polisci-060118-102113|doi-access=free|title=Institutional Bargaining for Democratic Theorists (Or How We Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Haggling)|year=2020|last1=Knight|first1=Jack|last2=Schwartzberg|first2=Melissa|journal=Annual Review of Political Science|volume=23|pages=259–276}}</ref>

Moreover, a perceived polyarchy—such as the United States—may bar a substantial number of its citizens from participating in its electoral process. For example, more than four million U.S. citizens residing in the [[U.S. territories]], such as [[Puerto Rico]], [[Guam]] and the [[U.S. Virgin Islands]], are excluded from participating in the election of any voting member of Congress, the political body that holds ultimate sovereignty over them. Robinson argues that they are effectively taxed without lawful representation (although these territories' status is a matter of popular consensus in individual cases).<ref>Raskin, James B. (2003). ''Overruling Democracy: The Supreme Court Vs. the American People''. London and New York: Routledge, pp. 36–38. {{ISBN|0-415-93439-7}}</ref><ref name="Torruella">{{cite book |last=Torruella |first=Juan R. |title=The Supreme Court and Puerto Rico: The doctrine of separate and unequal |publisher=University of Puerto Rico |date=1985 |location=Río Piedras, Puerto Rico |isbn=9780847730193 }}</ref>

In ''Preface to Democratic Theory'' (1956), Dahl argues that an increase in citizen political involvement may not always be beneficial for polyarchy. An increase in the political participation of members of less educated classes, for example, could reduce the support for the basic norms of polyarchy, because members of those classes are more predisposed to be authoritarian-minded.<ref>Dahl, ''Preface to Democratic Theory'', p. 89</ref><ref name="Michels2004">{{cite conference|last=Michels|first=Ank|date=13–18 April 2004|title=Citizen participation and democracy in the Netherlands|url=http://www.essex.ac.uk/ecpr/events/jointsessions/paperarchive/uppsala/ws12/Michels.pdf|conference=National Traditions of Democratic Thought, ECPR Joint Sessions|location=Uppsala, Sweden|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050510214639/http://www.essex.ac.uk/ecpr/events/jointsessions/paperarchive/uppsala/ws12/Michels.pdf|archive-date=10 May 2005|access-date=30 Nov 2016|conference-url=https://ecpr.eu/Events/PanelList.aspx?EventID=49}}<!-- https://ecpr.eu/Events/PaperDetails.aspx?PaperID=13813&EventID=49 --></ref>

In a discussion of contemporary British foreign policy, [[Mark Curtis (British author)|Mark Curtis]] writes, "Polyarchy is generally what British leaders mean when they speak of promoting 'democracy' abroad. This is a system in which a small group actually rules and mass participation is confined to choosing leaders in elections managed by competing elites."<ref>[[Mark Curtis (British author)|Mark Curtis]], ''Web of Deceit: Britain's Real Role in the World'', p. 247, London: Vintage UK Random House. {{ISBN|0-09-944839-4}}</ref>

It is also being promoted by the transnational elites in the South as a different form from the [[authoritarianism]] and [[dictatorship]] to the North as a part of [[democracy promotion]].<ref>William I Robinson Promoting polyarchy: 20 years later, p.228, International Relations 27(2) 2013</ref> Robinson argues that this is to cultivate transnational elites who will open up their countries following the transnational agenda of [[neoliberalism]], whereby transnational capital mobility and globalized circuits of production and distribution are established. For example, it was promoted to Nicaragua, Chile, Haiti, the Philippines, South Africa and the former Soviet Bloc countries.<ref>William I Robinson Promoting polyarchy: 20 years later, p.230, International Relations 27(2) 2013</ref>