hey everybody welcome back there are three types of democracy that this lesson focuses on participatory pluralist and Elite democracy but before we get to those let's start the basics and smash that like button and subscribe if you haven't already [Music] first of all democracy means rule by the people and in the last video I told you that the constitution established the us as a republic not a democracy and yet the unit and the first two modules have the word democracy in the title that's kind of weird truth be told we need to be more specific when we say democracy direct democracy sometimes referred to as pure democracy means that people vote directly on policies this is the type of democracy that we don't have at the federal level but just to keep on your toes some state and local governments do have some forms of direct democracy for example some states allow for initiatives where citizens can write a proposed bill or Amendment and they get it placed on the ballot where it can actually be voted on by the residents of that state and some states have referenda basically the same idea but a member of the state government writes the bill and then is placed on the ballot to be approved by the state's residence these are both examples of direct democracy which again exists only at the state level not at the federal level the US is a representative democracy where citizens are allowed to vote for Representatives who make the policies if that definition sounds a little familiar don't worry you won't have to distinguish between republicanism and representative democracy the fact of the matter is that the frame was established a republic and not a democracy for one thing because they didn't trust the people many of them felt that the people just could not not be trusted with that kind of power and we would end up having just mob rule this is where those three types of democracy mentioned the outside come in the framers wanted the people to have some power politically and obviously the Declaration of Independence said that people are the source of governmental power so the question becomes how much democracy is the right amount how much power should the people have and how is that power best exercised participatory democracy emphasizes broad participation by citizens in politics and Civil Society this is the idea that people should be actively involved in their government influencing policy making and that their voices should be heard we're thinking of things like protests demonstrations and marches for example social movements like black lives matter March for our lives the Tea Party or Occupy Wall Street are all examples that got large numbers of citizens involved and participating in politics your required document Brutus number one can be used to support participatory democracy but more on that in another video the second type of democracy is pluralist democracy and this emphasizes the role of group-based policy making the two best examples of policy making groups are political parties and interest groups people form groups or political parties with like-minded people who share their goals and values and then work together as a group to promote their policy agenda rather than each person working in isolation we associate Federalist number 10 with pluralist democracy admittedly the line between participatory and pluralist democracy can sometimes seem a little bit blurry for example think about March for our lives does that better embody participatory or pluralist democracy it has elements of both people are actively involved demonstrating and marching so that's clearly participatory but on the other hand it's a group of people with a United purpose trying to influence policy so it has elements of pluralist democracy in there too on a test my advice is take notice of what the question is emphasizing if it's focused on individual actions of people it's probably participatory and if it's emphasizing the collective role of the group it's probably pluralist the third type of democracy is Elite democracy and this emphasizes a limited or filtered role for the people where a small group of Elites have a disproportionate amount of political power with Elite democracy there is a distrust of the people so there needs to be a filter between the people and policy making a point of emphasis and debate is which of these types of democracy is promoted by the Constitution and the answer is kind of all of them in some ways the Constitution embodies Elite democracy it sets up a republican form of government where people vote for other people to represent them and make policies and how people kind of get to vote for the president but really it's the Electoral College who actually chooses the president but there are other parts that promote or at least make participatory democracy possible we can think of things like the first amendment's freedom of speech and press protections we could also think of amendments that increase suffrage allowing more people to vote and have their voices heard politically specifically the 15th 19th and 26th amendments expanded the right to vote to people of all Races Sexes and ages 18 and older and the Constitution also sets a stage for pluralist democracy by the first amendment's freedom of assembly allowing for the creation of interest groups and political parties all right that's it for this one thanks again for watching and if this video helped then please help me out with our YouTube overlords and hit that like button and make sure to subscribe so you don't miss anything until next time this is Ben of the money production and hey be sure to check out the ultimate review packet for all your studying and test prep needs practice tests study guides exclusive videos it's all there and I will see you in the next video