Complex System Behavior In Democratic Policy Theory
theories argue that groups are at the center of how politics and policy change is made and happens ( Cairney & Heikkila , 2014 ). None of the individual theories , however , comprising the modern conglomerated policy cycle model of U . S . policy theories addresses the issue of how democratic is the policy system ( Cairney & Heikkila , 2014 ).
Democracy as a policy output and outcome requires a definition . In scholarly studies , democracy has had four prominent groupings of definitions including : constitutional , substantive , procedural , and process ( Tilly , 2007 ). According to Tilly ( 2007 ), constitutional and legalistic definitions of democracy focus on the written and unwritten constitutional provisions , laws , agency rules , executive function orders , and court decisions constitute the foundations of democratic societies . Substantive definitions of democracy focus on how a society and government implements through the political process substantive public policies like peaceful conflict resolution that promote democracy ( Tilly , 2007 ). On the other hand , proponents of procedural definitions of democracy focus on governmental practices and procedures such as promoting multiparty elections and fair elections ( Freedom House , 2015 ). In contrast , process oriented democratic theories focus on a set of processes that must ideally continue to occur for a society to remain democratic ( Dahl , 1998 ). These pluralistic requirements include universal suffrage , equal access to the political process , and public policy that is always open to change ( Dahl , 1998 ).
While all of these definitional groupings provide elements of what democracy and democratization might look like , together they present a more nuanced view of democracy . From a public policy theoretical perspective , what ultimately is important is what government does or does not do in terms of promoting policy outputs and outcomes that represent greater democracy or not . Based on this public policy definition , these groupings can be categorized and viewed as being formal , informal , or action-oriented . Contained within formal elements of democracy are constitutional and legalistic definitions of democracy .
Informal elements of democracy are the manner and the way that political institutions including executive , legislative , judicial , and public agencies interpret how to implement formal legalistic provisions . This includes the appropriation of funds in implementing democratic policies . For instance , while the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution calls for equal protection under the law , has this provision been historically applied to some groups and not others such as gay and lesbian people ? Incorporated within informal elements of democracy are constitutional and legalistic , substantive , procedural definitions . Finally actions represent non-written and informal practices that are implement or not formal or informal provisions of democracy that are ultimately policy outputs and outcomes . For instance , even if there are constitutional provisions that provide for peaceful resolutions of conflict do a given nation ’ s military engage in military coup d ’ états ? In this scenario , the lack of peaceful resolution of conflict is a move away from democracy .
Features of Less Than Democratic Policy
So , what features of a policy system are moving away from or are not democratic ? Signs of a policy system that are less than democratic include formal and informal requirements and non-written actions in a given regime that result in a small segment of citizens provided civil and political rights , extreme inequality between economic groups , gender , race , ethnicity , religion ,
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