ABSTRACT
The “Western” electoral system, often called “liberal democracy,” is a competitive system, which some political scientists refer to as agonistic pluralism—the public contest among politicians. Schumpeter essentially formalized the redefinition of “democracy,” writing “the democratic method is that institutional arrangement for arriving at political decisions in which individuals acquire the power to decide by means of a competitive struggle for the people’s vote” (Schumpeter 1942, 269). This agonistic view assumes participants come with pre-established conflicting or incompatible preferences, values, and interests and dismisses the possibility of finding near consensus on many issues. Agonistic theorists accept the inevitability of eventual winners and losers (hopefully through elections rather than violence). This leads to a majoritarian view of democracy, leaving the minority losers with only the hope of coming back to fight and win another day. Leading political philosophers such as Chantal Mouffe and Nadia Urbinati are associated with this view.
