John McCormick describes and analyzes Liberal Democracies. His description includes a comparative analysis of different types of democracies-elite v. group or pluralist. My question is, which of the theories of democracy seems most compelling when applied to the British and American systems: elitism, pluralism, or perhaps a combination of the two?

Pluralism with a touch of elitism

Explanation:

Classical pluralism learns us that, although politics are made mostly in the framework of government, non-governmental groups do exercise certain amount of influence in the decision making of a country. So we can say that British and American systems follow pluralistic roads but...

... we cannot deny a certain influence of Elite groups in both countries, probably more present in the U.S. than in England. I personally remember that Hillary Clinton for example was judged too elitarian, in the meaning that she represented (and defended) a elite and very powerful minority.