This arena is that part of the political system which deals with how ideas and interests are aggregated into specific policy proposals. Much of the difficulty in consolidating democracy in regions like Latin America is seen by students of politics to be rooted in the problem of how contending social classes and interest groups are to be connected to the governing process. This arena is usually referred to as "political society", i.e. the place where public demands get tackled by specific political institutions. Rules for aggregating policy vary. One major distinction in democratic polities is between pluralist and corporatist systems. The former is competitive while the latter is directed. Many authoritarian regimes find the transition at the political society level especially hard since rules at this level tend to dictate who gets to power. Thus, the design of electoral systems tends to influence the party system; the party system the way the legislature operates. Countries in political transition tend to prefer a presidential system rather than a parliamentary one on the assumption-often mistaken-that a strong executive can control political society and provide greater political stability.
