Pluralism

Pluralism is a perspective, in political sociology and political theory, holding that power in modern societies is dispersed among many competing groups, associations, and interests rather than being monopolized by a single elite or class, and in a wider sense it affirms the coexistence of diverse values and cultures. Alexis de Tocqueville praised associational life as a check on centralized power, and Arthur Bentley and David Truman analyzed politics as the interaction of interest groups. Robert Dahl's Who Governs? found that different groups influenced different issues in New Haven, and he developed the idea of polyarchy. Critics such as C. Wright Mills and G. William Domhoff argued that a power elite dominates, while Peter Bachrach and Morton Baratz highlighted nondecision making that keeps issues off the agenda and Steven Lukes proposed a three-dimensional view of power. E. E. Schattschneider observed that the pluralist heaven sings with an upper-class accent. Isaiah Berlin defended value pluralism, and Horace Kallen and Will Kymlicka developed cultural pluralism and multicultural citizenship. Pluralism remains central to research on power, democracy, civil society, multiculturalism, and interest representation.