Power, Politics and the State
Chapter 8 Discussion Questions

• If democracy means 'power to the people', how does this translate into practical reality for people in contemporary Western societies? How far and in what ways do we live in 'democracies'?
  
• What kinds of example of competitive interest group politics could be cited to demonstrate the pluralist account of politics? How far do they exercise 'real' power?
  
• Which of the theories of the distribution of power do you find most convincing and why?
  
• If globalisation has occurred, does this mean that domestic politics are irrelevant?