Huntington states that democracy must include two things--contestation and participation (Huntington 7). Taylor's two divisions of democracy, the politics of equal dignity and the politics of difference, both comply with Huntington's demands, but in different ways. The politics of equal dignity allows society as a collective group to both contest and participate in government, while the politics of difference makes exceptions to political norms so that society is not judged as a collective, but as individuals. This allows contestation and participation to be practiced by not only the overall majority, but with input from minority groups, as well. .
Taylor feels that the politics of difference are very important because they include minority groups, while the politics of equal dignity rely on the collective goals of the majority. The view of the majority does not include everyone's view,.
"and in espousing this substantive outlook the society would not be treating .
the dissident minority with respect. It would be like saying to them, in effect, .
"your view is not as valuable, in the eyes of this polity, as that of your more numerous compatriots"" (Taylor 57).
Huntington would argue that the apparent problem with Taylor's position is that democracy thrives on a "majority rules" system where "its most powerful collective decision makers are selected through fair, honest, and periodic elections" (Taylor 7). Taylor, in return, would dispute that although democracy does have many "majority rules" regulations, exceptions should be incorporated into politics in other ways because today's democratic nations are not the same as the regimes that reigned in the past.
Today's societies are more multicultural because they include "more than one cultural community that wants to survive," and because of this, "the rigidities of procedural liberalism may rapidly become impractical" (Taylor 61).