Decentralized and Centralized Societies

Decentralized Society

Centralized Society

Tocqueville �

Decentralized society is the structure of liberty.� Feudal Societies were decentralized.� A was the king, B the aristocrats, C the commoners.� Britain still had this model for him.� Democratic America also followed this model, but A was the federal government, B were voluntary associations, and C the citizens.�

Centralized society is the structure of despotism.� The absolutist monarchs A (e.g., Louis XIV in France) centralized authority under the old regime by reducing the power of the aristocracy B and leveling society C under them.� Thus, the level B drops out and the aristocrats and commoners are leveled at C.� The democratic Revolution in France of 1789 does not change this structure of despotism because it merely replaces the king with the National Assembly at A.� It is very difficult to move from democratic despotism (centralized society) to democratic liberty (decentralized society).

Durkheim -

Modern society has become too large and centralized, and the individual may feel isolated and not see how he or she fits in: this is anomie.� As a solution, he proposes occupational groups B (a form of decentralized society) to connect the individual A to the whole of society C.� Durkheim compares his proposal to medieval corporatism and proposes a modern form of democratic corporatism: Individuals freely associate, and the associations help control the state.

Schmitter�s theory of Corporatism �

Corporatism takes the structure of a decentralized society.� Schmitter distinguishes between Liberal or Democratic Corporatism and State Corporatism.� In Liberal or Democratic Corporatism, power flows from the bottom up, consistent with Durkheim�s model.� Citizens C freely form associations B, which help control the state A.� In State Corporatism, power flows from the top down: Nazism and Fascism are extreme forms of this.� The state A uses organizations it creates B to control the population C.