Acemoglu and Robinson’s model of democracy

The Model of Democracy Developed by Acemoglu and Robinson

The model of democracy developed by Acemoglu and Robinson aims to explain how a non-democratic country comes to achieve equality. The interaction between elites who favor non-democracy and everyday people who support democracy is what makes up this transition.

The Power of Elites

The elites have de facto political power and, if unchecked, can use political institutions to create policies that are only advantageous to them. However, revolutions can be used by the people to bring about democracy if they are the majority. The elites raise concerns about justice to prevent giving the masses political and economic power and to prevent them from using their right to vote.

The United States and Democracy

For instance, the United States perfectly embodies the democratic paradigm proposed by Acemoglu and Robinson. In the United States, there have been increasing gaps between the rich and the poor and the trends are worrying despite the current democracy. There have been higher disparities in incomes, and wages and the model show that the masses will use freedom to vote and redistribute wealth and profit from the rich (Acemoglu, Daron & James 19).

The Representative Democracy

The US practices direct rule by the people where a few representatives are elected to represent a majority of the citizens. The citizens do not have direct powers regarding voting and lawmaking. Hence, it remains to be a representative democracy and not pure democracy. The major parties are republican who denotes law and a popular mixed government and the Democrats who indicate direct voting, bill of rights and liberties. Therefore, to achieve democracy, there have been constant revolutions fighting for equality through activist groups.

Work Cited

Acemoglu, Daron, and James A. Robinson. Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty. London: Profile Books, 2012. Print.