Concern with how democracy can be sustained Chiefly through the stability of the political system and the use of elections to competitively allocate political power and make elites responsive to mass preferences. Only elites are capable of politically rational decision-making. Through participation people enlarge their understanding and become public-spirited. Democratic process Periodic elections decide which elite group will rule. Elections are free and fair.
Democracy permeates society.
Opportunities to deliberatively decide important issues are commonplace, and time and educational resources to do so well are readily available. A means of regulating elite conflict and a system for the protection of individual rights and the pursuit of private interests. Economic inequalities are the inevitable result of different abilities. The cultivation of community based on individual autonomy and civic virtue. Economic inequalities are minimized because they jeopardize the sense of common good.