ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes alternative theoretical models of pluralism in somewhat systematic form. Theoretical models are: liberal pluralism and corporate pluralism. The chapter presents six dimensions with which to compare and contrast the two theoretical types of racial and ethnic pluralistic societies. These are: legal recognition and differential treatment; individual meritocracy and equality of opportunity versus group rewards and equality of condition; structural separation; cultural differences; area exclusivism; and institutional monolingualism versus institutional bilingualism or multilingualism. The large growth in numbers and political activism of the Hispanic population in the United States and the consequent demand for bilingual education in the public schools have brought aspects of this issue to the fore in the American context. In widely varying degree, nations like Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Canada, the Soviet Union, and Lebanon contain some aspects of a corporate pluralism model. In liberal pluralism, government gives no formal recognition to categories of people based on race or ethnicity.
