He writes, "Polyarchies were established to win and protect certain liberties: private property, free enterprise, free contract and occupational choice" (164). Often these liberties exist in the form of economic freedoms, exemplified by participation in the free market. He argues that although many hold that democracy (or polyarchy) is a system of popular rule, it in fact is a system established to ensure the personal freedoms of individuals. Lindblom begins to shore up this premise by examining democracy from a historical perspective. He then builds on this foundation to demonstrate the ways in which corporate power maintains control or at least a significant amount of power, in democratic systems. The author explains this anomaly by arguing that democratic systems are dependent on the market and private enterprise (162). ![]() In his examination, Lindblom finds that all democratic systems are characterized by a free-market economic arrangement. He supports this proposition by examining the many different types of politico-economic systems, ultimately breaking them down into a two-by-two matrix. Lindblom argues that big business and corporations do not "fit" with the idea of democracy. Lindblom and Vogel set out to examine the issue of business power in democratic political systems each coming to a different conclusion. ![]() As such, operationalizing the relational power between these entities has long been the task of political economists. The relationship between business and democracy is often murky.
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