movement of the post-war period, while theoretically he was one of the
founders ofpluralism. His main contribution to the analysis of political
systems was hisgroup theory. Bentley held that the traditional distinctions
drawn in political science between democratic and dictatorial systems were
largely superficial. He argued that all political systems really consisted of a
number of separate groups competing with one another for influence over
policy. The role of the government was essentially that of political broker,
responding to the demands and influence of different groups and distributing
‘goods’ (in the form of policies) in response. In many respects this approach
represented a development of ideas expressed by the European school of
e ́litism, and resembled modifications of earlier ideas made by people such
asSchumpeter. Like many theories of its period, Bentley’s was largely
intended to strip away what he saw as an artificial shell of respectability
surrounding democratic theory, many elements within which he regarded as
no more than myths.
Bill of Rights
Manyconstitutionshave bills of rights, often under different names, protect-
ing certain vitalcivil liberties. The most imitated bills of rights are the 1789
FrenchDeclaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen,which has survived
into the constitution of theFifth Republic, and the first ten amendments to
the US Constitution ratified in 1791, although the English bill of rights,
enacted in 1689 to establish Parliament’s sovereignty in relation to the
monarchy, is earlier. A typical bill of rights will contain provisions guaranteeing
the basicnatural rights, such as the freedoms of speech, religion and assembly
and the right to own property. It will usually also contain a set of more legalistic
civil rights, including, for example, the right to a fair trial, perhaps by jury and
with legal representation, prohibitions on cruel and excessive punishment and
protection against double jeopardy (being tried twice for the same offence).
Many modern bills of rights may also try to guarantee substantive rights such as
those to education or employment; these, however, cannot be fully opera-
tional, because while a government can, clearly, be stopped from doing
something, it cannot be forced to provide a specific good irrespective of the
state of the economic or political situation. The constitutions of the new
Eastern European democracies, in particular, contain such ‘positive rights’, and
theirconstitutional courtshave often enforced them against governments.
Their ability to do this stems from the fact that, whatever else may have been
lacking in the communist predecessor states, they all had effective welfare
systems.
The effect of a bill of rights depends on other aspects of a country’s legal
system. In the USA, with its written constitution and powerful independent
Bill of Rights