Introduction
There is the participation of different groups such as formal and informal groups based on religion, ethnicity, and language in a politically pluralistic society. State autonomy always comes to the decision independently of the dominant class. This paper presents what is pluralism and state autonomy. It gives some of the political activities of the writer and how does it influence the judgments. The last part of this paper focuses on the validity of class domination theory.
Pluralism
The political theory of pluralism can be defined as the participation of interested groups, trade unions, business organizations, and any other small coalitions in the accomplishment of political power. The political power is not restricted to the elite group of the society but it is distributed to various small and big groups. Pluralism is a theory that holds the presence of various distinct ethnic groups, religious groups, and cultural groups in a society which would give social and political benefits. The view of political science on pluralism is that the power of liberal democracy is vested not with the elite group but is distributed among various economic and political groups. There are several multitudes of formal and informal coalitions that would influence the power in the society and the involvement of all these groups in the political process is called pluralism in politics.
State autonomy
The capitalist states can formulate and organize the plans for their own, independently of social interests and the dominant class. The ability of the capitalist states is referred to as state autonomy and there are two oppositional approaches to understand state autonomy. The state-focused theory states that the capitalist state is independent and autonomous while society-focused theory postulates that the capitalist state is relatively autonomous. The state may face several pressures from different realms of state such as economic, political, etc. Spain and Britain had to face pressure from the industrial pressure groups in the twentieth century; this is an example of the economic pressure that challenged the state autonomy.
I am a person who had participated in many political activities. I have observed so many factors which are involved in politics. There are several groups – formal and informal, such as ethnic groups, religious groups, political groups, different sects which have different ideologies. All these groups influence the political power on how it is to be executed. All political parties have their agendas and ideologies. Some groups are dominants in some parts of the nation and they constitute a majority. Even though the people belong to the same party, the people from different regions may have slight differences in their ideology. I belong to a religious group that has its dominance in that area. I have participated in most of the discussions conducted by this religious group. No political party is as strong as this political party. This party has a strong influence on politics. Likewise, a lot of parties are there which have a majority in their areas. Therefore, what I would like to tell is that power is distributed pluralistically to different groups, parties, religious groups, and ethnic groups. My activities in politics have influenced me in molding this judgment because I have witnessed so many instances where some different groups are dominant in some parts of the nation.
Political pluralism is a system of government that forms the government by the people, for the people, and of the people and this system is followed by the government of the United States also. Political pluralism respects everyone’s religious point of view and all these religions will have a political influence. In a politically pluralistic society, there is no absolute right and wrong. The United States is an example of this type of government. India is the second mightiest county that has a pluralistic form of government. India is a good example of this since there are several religious groups, language groups, ethnic groups, and political groups. Every group based on religion, politics, and language has political influence and representation in the government.
There is only less chance of sacrificing the general good in terms of the elite group in a politically pluralistic society. The negation of the will of the majority is seen in an aristocratic society. We have certain examples even today where military rule and royal rule exist. There is no freedom for the people to express their views publicly. Their freedom to speak and organize, choice of religion, etc are restricted by the autonomous sovereignty of the state. In a politically pluralistic society, the government is formed by the people, for the people, and of the people. Here, the people have the freedom to join the decision-making process of the country. People formulate policies and plans for them because they have representation in the government. This system of government is considered the prettiest form of government.
People belonging to the middle class and lower class always tend to hear what the upper class tells. The community is the class that always tries to make good relations with the upper class. The people of the upper class and the corporate community join together to dominate the people belonging to the lower class. These two groups can together influence any part of the social system. They start the effort of domination from the school education system. The concept of boarding school is an example of this kind of effort. To make upper-class children educated about the way of this kind of dominations, study fees of the schools are increased massively. And they get an isolated environment to practice how to control lower-class people. But the ideology of the upper class is not only learned from schools and colleges. Clubs, parties, social gatherings, etc are used to spread this ideology. The upper class that includes the corporate community, politicians, etc try to make close relations with each other. For that purpose, they make an environment by which they can benefit from the relation they make between them. These benefits include social benefits; financial benefits political benefits etc. They also make sure that they can be benefited from this relation in the future too.
Class domination is very high in countries like America and England. In America, black people were the main victims of class domination. But now the situation has changed a lot.
Conclusion
This paper has highlighted two different concepts, namely pluralism and state autonomy. In a politically pluralistic society, people have freedom and representation in the political decision-making process. There will be representation from different groups, such as religious groups, political parties, and trade unions.