The New State · Chapter
Political Pluralism and Functionalism explained
The chapter critiques both pluralism and functionalism, arguing that the individual must remain the unit of politics while groups serve as the method.
What happens
The chapter critiques both pluralism and functionalism, arguing that the individual must remain the unit of politics while groups serve as the method. It rejects occupational representation as insufficient because man has multiple functions and cannot be reduced to a single group. The author proposes the 'group-individual' as the true unit of society, and advocates for a Service State over a Sovereign State, emphasizing the need for methods that integrate the individual's multiple group affiliations into a federated political system.
Themes in this chapter
Critique of Individualism and Particularism
The chapter rejects both atomistic individualism and the particularism of occupational representation, arguing for the 'group-individual' as the true unit.
Integration of Occupational and Neighborhood Groups
Discusses the need to integrate multiple group affiliations (occupational, neighborhood, etc.) into a federated political system without reducing the individual to a single function.
Rejection of Crowd Psychology and Mass Rule
Explicitly rejects the 'crowd-state' and majority rule, advocating instead for representation of 'true individuals' through group methods.
Characters to notice
- Narrator
The narrator presents the central argument that the individual is the unit of politics and groups are the method, critiquing both pluralism and functionalism.
- We the People
Referenced as the collective 'we' in the context of group interlocking and the need for the individual to express multiple sides through groups.
- Mr. B
Mentioned indirectly through the discussion of syndicalist and pluralist thinkers, though not by name in the excerpts.
Key passages
“The individual finds himself in a group; he has no power alone or in a crowd. One group creates me, another group creates me and so on and on.”
A person gains identity and power through membership in multiple groups, not as an isolated individual or as part of an undifferentiated crowd.
This introduces the core concept of the 'group-individual' as the basis of political participation.
“The essence of democracy is the expression of every man in his multiple nature.”
True democracy requires that each person be able to express all aspects of their identity, not just a single function like occupation.
This summarizes the chapter's critique of functionalism and occupational representation.
“We find the individual through the group, we use him always as the true individual—the undivided one—who, living link of living group, is yet never embedded in the meshes but is forever free for every new possibility of a forever unfolding life.”
The individual is discovered and expressed through group participation, but remains an integrated whole, not trapped by any single group, and open to continuous growth.
This poetic conclusion encapsulates the chapter's vision of the individual as both shaped by and transcendent of groups.