Since the founding of the United States the concept of pluralism as proposed by James Madison has been a part of U.S. political and social life. Madison viewed the disputes arising from differing viewpoints of interest groups as fundamental to political life in a democracy. Madison was influential in ingraining pluralistic principles in the U.S. Constitution. The separation of powers in the Constitution envisioned each branch of government as a counterbalance or system of checks and balances to the others. Competing faction and interest groups are realistically accepted as expressions of aspirations for power and resources in rociety. The iddalism proposed by MadisonÆs brand of pluralism is one that views conflicts aimed at gaining power as disputes that will lead to a balanced, natural harmony of shared power among different and competing groups in society.
Robert Dahl (1967, p. 24) defines a pluralistic society as having multiple centers of power, each set against the other, and he reasons that ôpower itself will be tamed, civilized, controlled, and limited to decent human purposes.ö In recent decades, our own society has certainly become less pluralistic from a political standpoint. Parties have declined in importance and U.S. politics is characterized by candidate-centered and issue-centered campaigns as much as party-campaigns. Campaigns for major office are not managed by paid professionals the equivalent of public relations consultants. Public opinion polling attempts to provide an analysis of the distribution of opinions on any issue within a specific population.
In our democratic society citizens are encouraged to form their own opinions on candidates for public office, taxes, constitutional amendments, environmental concerns, foreign policy, and other issues. From my own political participation, I know the opinions held by any population are shaped and manipulated by
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