Movements, Minorities, and Elections Cuz Potter Assistant Professor Division of International Studies Korea University 1st Seoul International Forum on Elections 12–14 May 2015 c Cuz Potter 2015 Panel topic How to make sure minority groups have the right to participate in, run in, and vote in an election c Cuz Potter 2015 Problem with topic voting 6= democracy c Cuz Potter 2015 Representative democracy 1. Majorities outvote minorities 2. Politicians may lie for votes 3. → Minority influence marginal c Cuz Potter 2015 Minority groups “a group of people who, because of their physical or cultural characteristics, are singled out from the others in the society in which they live for differential and unequal treatment, and who therefore regard themselves as objects of collective discrimination.” —Louis Wirth c Cuz Potter 2015 Minority groups 1. Not numerical 2. Characteristics ascribed c Cuz Potter 2015 Minority groups Groups with relatively less status and power and fewer social and economic resources than more dominant groups. c Cuz Potter 2015 New, improved panel topic How to ensure that minority groups’ interests are reflected in decision making c Cuz Potter 2015 Fundamental problem 1. Minority groups lack power. 2. Dominant interests have no interest in giving them power. c Cuz Potter 2015 “I seriously wonder. . . whether in this day and age it is possible for any candidate, who is not a billionaire or who is not beholden to the billionaire class, to be able to run successful campaigns.” —Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), April 2015 Photo: AP/Carolyn Kaste c Cuz Potter 2015 The Koch brothers 2016 election budget: $889 million c Cuz Potter 2015 Faces of power 1. One-dimensional view = Direct 2. Two-dimensional view = Indirect 3. Three-dimensional view = Ideological —Steven Lukes, 1974 c Cuz Potter 2015 Faces of power: Direct c Cuz Potter 2015 Faces of power: Indirect c Cuz Potter 2015 Faces of power: Ideological 1. Florida State University Economics Department 2. George Mason University ($30m+ since 1985) c Cuz Potter 2015 “Free election of masters does not abolish the masters or the slaves.” —Herbert Marcuse c Cuz Potter 2015 Power relations Integrating minority group interests disrupts power relations. c Cuz Potter 2015 Summary so far 1. 2. 3. 4. Minority groups lack power → Need more power to realize interests Dominant groups resist losing power → Conflict c Cuz Potter 2015 Resolution = Innovation Innovations disrupt established: 1. ways of doing things 2. power relations c Cuz Potter 2015 Social movements are innovations. c Cuz Potter 2015 Suffrage movements 1. Universal suffrage (1800s) 2. Women’s suffrage (1900s) 3. Civil rights movement (1960s) c Cuz Potter 2015 Democratic development Country Australia Canada Denmark Finland France Germany Italy Japan Korea New Zealand Sweden Switzerland UK USA Universal Male Suffrage Universal Suffrage 1903 1920 1849 1919 1848 1849 1919 1925 1948 1889 1918 1879 1918 1965 (1870) 1962 1970 1915 1944 1946 1946 1946 1952 1948 1907 1918 1971 1928 1965 Table: Adapted from Ha-Joon Chang, Kicking Away the Ladder c Cuz Potter 2015 Photo by Burke & Atwell, Chicago c Cuz Potter 2015 Watts Riots, 1965 c Cuz Potter 2015 Photo by Rowland Scherman for USIA c Cuz Potter 2015 Black president for seven years Photo: ABC News c Cuz Potter 2015 But still. . . Baltimore Riots, 28 April 2015 (Reuters) c Cuz Potter 2015 Conclusion 1. Minority groups lack power 2. Powerful resist losing power 3. Social movements must drive political innovation c Cuz Potter 2015 Thank you. c Cuz Potter 2015
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