FUNCTIONALISM AND ITS CRITICS - Intercollegiate Studies Institute

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FUNCTIONALISM AND ITS CRITICS 255 the rational activist citizen, the non-salience of politics, and the willingness of most citizens to behave as subjects most of the time. The rationalist activist myth is necessary so that citizens will act at enough times on sufficient issues to keep elites in line and so that elites will expect such action. If special groups of citizens act only at certain times and on issues which are salient to them, the polity can respond to their demands, thus re-enforcing their allegiance. The balance, however, does face certain dangers. If issues of considerable salience to substantial segments of the population emerge and cannot be dealt with in a reasonable time, serious problems can develop. Citizen activity can increase to a point where elites, caught up in all sorts of cross pressures, will be unable to act at all, and citizens whose demands are not met could develop a sense of impotence and alienation, with serious consequences for the system. Further, in so far as socialization into the civic culture stems less from early childhood experiences (although these are important) than from experience with the political process itself, the impact of a crisis like this on later generations could be fairly substantial. Assuming the argument to be correct, its further implications are rather disturbing. Mass activism would probably result in either a longish period of political stasis punctuated by considerable violence, or some sort of dictatorship. In the latter eventuality voluntary participation might be replaced by directed participation, but the great mass of the population would, in fact, be merely subjects. Of course, some of the issues which brought about the crisis could be resolved and political activity would then fall back to. normal levels. I ' ve extended and extrapolated from Almond ' s argument somewhat for a particular purpose. It seems to me that it offers some interesting insights into the current malaise of American democracy, especially among upper middle class youth, although among other groups as well. Both the Vietnam war and the race issue have generated a series of conflicts involving upper middle class youth (and their parents) allied in some cases with blacks, versus various middle class, and working class " ethnics. " Despite all the current student rhetoric about power elites it seems quite clear that upper middle class reformers have failed to, achieve their aims not because of " elite " opposition (after all they and their parents constitute a substantial
256 THE POLITICAL SCIENCE REVIEWER part of the social establishment, at least, if there is an etsablishment) but because a segment of the political and social elite has joined with the working class and lower middle class white majority in opposition. Having been brought up on a " rationality activist " model, upper middle class youth expect the system to respond relatively rapidly to the essential rightness of their cause, as they perceive it. When the system fails to respond in textbook fashion they become alienated. Their alienation is heightened when they discover that supposedly " liberal " politicians who profess sympathy are unable or unwilling to sponsor the policies upon which they theoretically agree. What they often fail to realize is that these political figures are more fully committed to the political system as it actually functions than are activist youth and/or their hands are partially tied by an electoral constituency which is more conservative than they themselves are. In part upper middle class youth and their parents have been able to achieve more than they might have in terms of numbers, because they have succeeded in mobilizing positions of the black community, and because their working class and lower middle class opponents tend to behave more like " parochials " and "subjects." Of course, upper middle-class liberals also dominate the prestige papers and magazines as well as national television and the universities. They have achieved less than they might have because their opponents have been activated at least sporadically by real or imagined threats W . what they consider vital interests: Urban planning is a case in point. The problems faced by New York City today, while they have many sources, are less a result of the mayor ' s unwillingness to act than they are of the fact that almost all groups feel that their interests should be served and are increasingly willing to engage in direct action to secure them. Urban planning has been far easier in England in part . (but only in part) because the average citizen is still willing to accept elite decisions rather passively.6 2 It seems to me, then, that Almond ' s theory is of considerable utility in explaining some of our current difficulties, and that he could have predicted them with the relevant information. His analysis, therefore, should commend itself to us. It has, however, come under serious attack from those who argue that because it 52 The argument is developed somewhat more fully in Stanley Rothman, European Society and Politics (Indianapolis, 1970), pp. 580-582.
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