Movements,
Minorities,
and Elections
Cuz Potter
Assistant Professor
Division of International Studies
Korea University
1st Seoul International Forum on Elections
12–14 May 2015
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Panel topic
How to make sure minority groups
have the right to participate in, run
in, and vote in an election
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Problem with topic
voting 6= democracy
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Representative democracy
1. Majorities outvote minorities
2. Politicians may lie for votes
3. → Minority influence marginal
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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
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Minority groups
1. Not numerical
2. Characteristics ascribed
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Minority groups
Groups with relatively less status
and power and fewer social and
economic resources than more
dominant groups.
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New, improved panel topic
How to ensure that minority
groups’ interests are reflected in
decision making
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Fundamental problem
1. Minority groups lack power.
2. Dominant interests have no
interest in giving them power.
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“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
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The Koch brothers
2016 election budget: $889 million
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Faces of power
1. One-dimensional view = Direct
2. Two-dimensional view = Indirect
3. Three-dimensional view = Ideological
—Steven Lukes, 1974
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Faces of power: Direct
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Faces of power: Indirect
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Faces of power: Ideological
1. Florida State University
Economics Department
2. George Mason University
($30m+ since 1985)
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“Free election of masters does not
abolish the masters or the slaves.”
—Herbert Marcuse
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Power relations
Integrating minority group interests
disrupts power relations.
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Summary so far
1.
2.
3.
4.
Minority groups lack power
→ Need more power to realize interests
Dominant groups resist losing power
→ Conflict
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Resolution = Innovation
Innovations disrupt established:
1. ways of doing things
2. power relations
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Social
movements are
innovations.
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Suffrage movements
1. Universal suffrage (1800s)
2. Women’s suffrage (1900s)
3. Civil rights movement (1960s)
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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
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Photo by Burke & Atwell, Chicago
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Watts Riots, 1965
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Photo by Rowland Scherman for
USIA
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Black president for seven years
Photo: ABC News
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But still. . .
Baltimore Riots, 28 April 2015 (Reuters)
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Conclusion
1. Minority groups lack power
2. Powerful resist losing power
3. Social movements must drive
political innovation
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Thank you.
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