Democracy has been described in several ways. Socialization and partnership are essential aspects that define democracy in various nations. Scholars have been exploring issues of democracy using different points of view. This paper will therefore focus on exploring democracy from diverse perspectives, more so by comparing Putnam’s (1995) article “American’s Declining Social Capital” and Carlin and Love’s (2016) paper “Political Competition, Partisanship and Interpersonal Trust in Electoral Democracies”.
The two articles discuss political competition, interpersonal trust, and partisanship in electoral democracies. As stated in both papers, social preference is one of the most prominent theories of evolution (Putnam, 1995; Carlin & Love, 2016). Interpersonal trust among individuals is the kind of cooperative social preference most central to democratic governance and aids in resolving some of the joint problems common in liberal and economic governance systems. In addition, as Carlin and Love argue, human beings tend to become more interactive because of the cooperation aspects that lie within them (2016).
The two articles have a common theme, highlighting how Americans tend to discriminate against some interpersonal trusts along their party lines. In the USA, for example, many citizens and politicians tend to be more committed to the conflicts representing the democracies that play a critical role in their cooperation. For this reason, the Democrats in the nation tend to trust each other more than the Republicans (Carlin & Love, 2016). The articles both outline that interpersonal trust is critical as it highlights the intention to accept all kinds of vulnerability based on people’s positive expectations of each other. This means that trust among individual parties reflects people’s love for each other. For this reason, political psychologists link various political decisions with cognitive heuristics that set critical principles in reducing various complex tasks that allow the accessibility of various predictions and probabilities.
According to Putnam, bonding social capital suggests that norms of reciprocity and trust are confined to close-knit, homogenous groups with minimal interaction and trust outside of them (1995). However, Carlin and Love contend that social capital that bridges gaps, or “weak ties,” binds members of various social groups (2016). Bridging social capital encourages the collaborative activity required for well-functioning democracies and markets while bonding social capital produces a wide range of social inefficiencies and reduces institutional effectiveness. Therefore, they conclude that citizens of different political persuasions are less able to cooperate when it is needed the most—when there is a wide gap between one’s partisan allies and one’s own—when it is needed the most (Carlin & Love,2016).
In their work, Putnam and, Carlin & Love highlight that Americans tend to discriminate against some interpersonal trusts along their party lines. According to Carlin and Love, “the effects of partisanship on trust outstrip minimal group treatments are on par with the effects of most treatments for ascriptive characteristics in the literature” (2016, p.115). As well as, Putnam’s article states, “civic engagement and social connectedness produce such result” (1995). However, Carlin and Love have also stated that cognitive heuristics set critical principles in reducing various complex tasks that allow the accessibility of various predictions and probabilities.
Overall, as was mentioned in this paper, democracy can be defined in several ways. In order to find its definition, two articles were analyzed and compared. As a result, the authors had reached one point despite different viewpoints and dates of when the source was published. Both papers state that interpersonal trust among individuals and partnerships are crucial aspects of democratic governance, which aid in resolving some of the joint problems common in liberal and economic governance systems.
References
Carlin, R. E., & Love, G. J. (2016). Political competition, partisanship and interpersonal trust in electoral democracies. British Journal of Political Science, 48(1), 115-139. Web.
Putnam R, D., (1995). American’s Declining Social Capital. Journal of Democracy. Hopkins University Press. 6(1) 64-76.