Conceptions of the relationship between social structure and human agency have important implications for democratic theory and practice. A structuralist view of the structure-agency relationship promotes a weak standard of leader responsiveness that permits leaders to fail to satisfy citizen preferences if failures are traceable to the existence of structural constraints. A dualistic view of the structure-agency relationship promotes a strong standard of leader responsiveness that requires leaders to attempt to alter any structural constraints inhibiting the satisfaction of citizen preferences. The contrasting standards of leader responsiveness are illustrated through a discussion of the experiences of Black Urban Regimes in America's central cities, and the implications of the findings for democratic theory are elucidated.