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It’s Official: America is an Oligarchy and NOT a Democracy or a Republic
We noted last year:
American democracy – once a glorious thing – has devolved into an oligarchy, according to two leading IMF officials, the former Vice President of the Dallas Federal Reserve, the head of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Moody’s chief economist and many others.
But don’t take their word for it …
A new quantitative study by Princeton’s Martin Gilens and Northwestern’s Benjamin Page finds that America is not a democracy … but is an oligarchy.
Here’s a quick visual overview from the study:
In other words, when the fatcats want something, it will probably happen. But when the little guys want something … not so much.
Highlights from the study:
A great deal of empirical research speaks to the policy influence of one or another set of actors, but until recently it has not been possible to test these contrasting theoretical predictions against each other within a single statistical model. This paper reports on an effort to do so, using a unique data set that includes measures of the key variables for 1,779 policy issues.
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Economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while mass-based interest groups and average citizens have little or no independent influence. Our results provide substantial support for theories of Economic Elite Domination and for theories of Biased Pluralism, but not for theories of Majoritarian Electoral Democracy or Majoritarian Pluralism.
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Very few studies have offered quantitative evidence concerning the impact of interest groups based on a number of different public policies.
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Prior to the availability of the data set that we analyze here, no one we are aware of has succeeded at assessing interest group influence over a comprehensive set of issues, while taking into account the impact of either the public at large or economic elites – let alone analyzing all three types of potential influences simultaneously.
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The chief predictions of pure theories of Majoritarian Electoral Democracy can be decisively rejected. Not only do ordinary citizens not have uniquely substantial power over policy decisions; they have little or no independent influence on policy at all.
By contrast, economic elites are estimated to have a quite substantial, highly significant, independent impact on policy.
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These results suggest that reality is best captured by mixed theories in which both individual economic elites and organized interest groups (including corporations, largely owned and controlled by wealthy elites) play a substantial part in affecting public policy, but the general public has little or no independent influence.
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When a majority – even a very large majority – of the public favors change, it is not likely to get what it wants. In our 1,779 policy cases, narrow pro-change majorities of the public got the policy changes they wanted only about 30% of the time. More strikingly, even overwhelmingly large pro-change majorities, with 80% of the public favoring a policy change, got that change only about 43% of the time.
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Our findings probably understate the political influence of elites.
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What do our findings say about democracy in America? They certainly constitute troubling news for advocates of “populistic” democracy, who want governments to respond primarily or exclusively to the policy preferences of their citizens. In the United States, our findings indicate, the majority does not rule — at least not in the causal sense of actually determining policy outcomes. When a majority of citizens disagrees with economic elites and/or with organized interests, they generally lose. Moreover, because of the strong status quo bias built into the U.S. political system, even when fairly large majorities of Americans favor policy change, they generally do not get it.
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If policymaking is dominated by powerful business organizations and a small number of affluent Americans, then America’s claims to being a democratic society are seriously threatened.
No wonder the chairman of the Department of Economics at George Mason University said that politicians are not prostitutes, they are pimps … pimping out their services to the highest bidder.
The Supreme Court is not much better: their allowance of unlimited campaign spending allows the oligarchs to purchase politicians more directly than ever.
Moreover, there are two systems of justice in America … one for the big banks and other fatcats, and one for everyone else.
And not only do we not have democracy, but we also no longer have a free market economy. Instead, we have fascism, communist style socialism, kleptocracy, banana republic style corruption, or – yes – “oligarchy“.
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God Damn you're good-looking!
Being anything, just philosophically, doesn't solve or accomplish shit. Sitting around pontificating about anarchy doesn't make you an anarchist.
I like the cut of this mans jib!
So tell us, what have you done to further "the cause" ;-)
RE:nmewn
The twit probably doesn't know the true meaning of anarchy to begin with... He also doesn't understand how you effect change. Philosophical libertarians might vote GOP to accomplish a specific goal (though who knows what that could be with 95% of GOP candidates) and that doesn't make them less "libertarian". I am an Anarchist in that I don't believe there should never be an action that is legitimized by government. If you kill someone .gov can't take your life, but that person's brother sure as hell can. I believe in liberty and freedom taken to their infinite limits. Mankind can self regulate without a ruling class which is all that .gov is or ever will be.
Why so serious?
I don't care what your philosophy is, voting will not effect your goal. Especially if you are a libertarian voting for the GOP. BAD EXAMPLE.
And if someone kills a family member of yours, or robs your house, or steals your car, then you are just shit out of luck right? If murder on the streets didn't have any consequences besides retaliation (if the person or his/her family has the means to retaliate) that is your idea of a good system. So your wife or daughter gets raped by a gang of thugs, say 10 of them, with guns, what the fuck are you going to do about it? Nothing but die trying.
Your idea of a system is chaos, where retaliation is justice and the largest gangs control the neighborhoods. Maybe you should move to the projects, you'd be happy there. Go see how nice that system is.
Anarchy would never work, especially on a planet of 7 billion people. People are not altruistic by nature, they are xenophobic, and by nature would eventually evolve into a higher system in order to protect their "peeps" from outside gangs. That's how humans evolved in the first place. From family unit to band to tribe to chiefdom to nation/state. All you want to do is start over, and that's fine, I wouldn't mind that either. But don't go thinking anarchy has never been tried before and that i would work. People are greedy selfish evil bastardos, they need conflict resolution. Which means you're going to need someone to be in CHARGE of that conflict resolution, which means your going need someone to JUDGE the conflict and serve punishment, which means your going to eventually end up with LAW and someone to ENFORCE that law.
Your dream is well intentioned but it is a pipe dream.
Well, I have been known to oblige some secret hollywood parties with my presence on occassion. I like to hand out colorful pharmaceutical sundries to the actors, especially the ones that are going on and on about Castro and Obama and Sasoon. But that's not all; I give uppers to the ones that want downers and downers to the ones that want uppers...without telling them. HA HAH! I also, at most parties, turn peoples cocktails into Mickeys, if it is an especially irritating baboon of a pretender. Not B listers though, they're cool. Speaking of Mickeys, I was at a party last week when Mickey Rooney walked in. Seemed nice but boy was he long winded. I've met some crazy cats, Heath Ledger, Philip Hoffman, blah blah blah. I really don't like name-dropping V.
What I really like to do, when I get spare time, is go for long walks and jay-walk across every busy intersection along the way. I take my time about it too. HEE HEE. You should try it sometime...the looks on peoples faces! After all, I'm a fucking pedestrian right? Why should I have to obey traffic LAWS!
Whatever I can do for "the cause"...(it's the little things)...
Go into Wal~Mart.
Place a Flat Screen TV into your cart.
Go to the Ice Cream Section.
Place a few gallons of Ice Cream, upside down, on top of the Flat Screen TV.
Wheel your cart to the clothing section.
Place some expensive clothing on top.
Pretend to get a Cell Phone Call.
Leave rapidly as if you have an emergency.
Alternatively fill up a Shopping Cart at your Corporate Grocer and do likewise.
Ah...I agree. It is the little things in life that count.
I will not post anything about illegal exploits in which I have participated. But I will write about how to do that.
But there is no contract for buying the merchandise. As for Criminal Damage they must prove intent. If you are "caught" then the "I had an emergency and had to leave the store." explanation does not provide grounds for intent.
You did not steal anything, shoplift anything, and it is not illegal.
They all add up when many participate.
Gasoline is now $4.29 in San Diego County. It is $3.40 in Las Vegas, Nevada? Why is that?
Fuck them. If you fuck one then you fuck them all.
Classical IDIOT thinking. They will pass on the loss to the next customer/s.
Good. Let them pass off the costs. Sooner or later the customers will not be able to AFFORD the costs. Then the corporation cannot SELL. There is NO INCOME. There is NO REVENUE.
That leads to BANKRUPTCY which is the goal.
Note that I wrote that this happens if MANY DO IT.
Isn't congress a business?
Yes. A brothel.
Parliament of Whores, bitchez.
Jeessu h Christ. Jorge, why don't you post this iterative nonsense somewhere where no one knows what the elite cognoscenti on this blog have known for decades?
Save the Bandwidth!
Numero 15 ...
When the sheeple finally do snap, they are being led away from those who should be snapped upon, and toward the middle class. Master of Puppets, pulling your strings...
Wrong IT WILL BE THE MIDDLE CLASS {whats left of it} THAT DOES THE SNAPPING. The poor won't snap, because the gubmint will be giving them the fruits of the middle class's labor {re-distribution}. The rich won't snap because they will be sheilded, just as they always have been. Make no mistake here; IT IS THE MIDDE CLASS THAT IS BEING DESTROYED HERE, NOT THE POOR.
Kleptocracy Above. Lootarchy below.
I define Middle Class as anyone who works for a living. And yes, we are being targeted from both sides.
Not just towards the middle class. But class warfare in general. Rich blaming the poor, the poor blaming everyone above them, and the middle class looking both above and below for various reasons sold as the cause and not the effect.
And, just in case, for good measure, there is always religious, race, public versus private sector, generational, and other divides to keep things spicy.
Toward the middle class? Seriously?
In other news, water is wet and fire is hot.
Wait a minute. Chief Justice Roberts has stated in opinions that are today the law of the land, that absent a smoking quid pro quo, money is just money and doesn't necessarily equate with unequal influence. Clearly, either this research, or Justice Roberts is full of **it. Were our world an intellocracy (made up word meaning rule by ideas), Roberts would be asked to pony up his data to refute those pesky Princeton boyz. In the world we actually live in, our Princeton boyz better watch their six, grants and the like are very likely to vanish. There is a price to pay for telling the truth - just ask Snowden.
Yep essentially.
In other news, water is wet…
I can remember a time I made the exact same observation. I was castigated by others here on ZH that “one of the characteristics of water is that of wetness”...
While I can understand the need for precision in terminology, the fact remains our, (i.e. the US’s) judiciary has been severely compromised by alphabet soup agencies appointed by fallacious executive branch personnel kowtowing to gerrymandered legislative placeholders recruited by foreign interests.
Say what you will re: “American Indigenous peoples”, and even with Andrew Jackson taken into account, the US has shown itself to possess a governmental and public, (4th estate), structure trying at least to reward “Nobel” character and willing to ostracize those of more base desires.
Denying this says Gettysburg was futile, the longest unprotected national border on earth is an apparition and our current majority leader in the senate from Nevada is honorable. (Not to mention the sham of all MLB donning #42 yesterday.)
End tbtf, the fed and non PM based coinage / currency in the USA.
And by the way, what will it take for Soros to retire to Tel Aviv? (I don't suppose the stalwarts would have him in Jerusalem.)
Oh yeah, and "Go Giants / Beat LA"
Jmo.
The alphabet agencies don't do shit without getting their marching orders from the money interests.
Here's an article that will broil your bones:
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?pli=1#inbox/1456d3b6607ae09c
Alphabet agencies don't do shit without getting their marching orders from the money interests...
Agreed. The moneyed interests don't enrich anyone, any cause without first determining whether such expenditure will increase their "power".
"Power, Wealth, Wisdom, Strength, Honor, Glory and Blessing", the 7 attributes of a sovereign being. I sometimes wonder if these are actually in ascending order as it appears to be. I've grown to accept them as traits humans crave but which result in flaming out if / when any one of which is attained. (70-80 orbits ain't nuthin in comparison to eternity)
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!”
Revelation 5:12 RSV
Happy Easter / Passover to all.
Jmo.
Without disputing any of the ideas in this article, I can only laugh at the idea of quantitative scientific proof of what words might mean in reference to abstract concepts.
Then again, statists do the silliest things to justify a "new and improved state."
The elites wanted draconian gun laws after both Columbine and Newtown, the elites wanted a war with Syria, and the elites wanted the Kyoto treaty.
So why didn't they get those?
Stop and think about it. Twenty years of legislation producing hundreds of thousands of pages of laws and not a single tiny little law for the benefit of anyone other than the elites. Can you think of something? I can't. Special interest laws sail through Congress with no comment. Anything benefitting the little guy is always "controversial."
0b1knob The elites wanted draconian gun laws after both Columbine and Newtown, the elites wanted a war with Syria, and the elites wanted the Kyoto treaty.
So why didn't they get those?
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1 draconian gun laws: Because there are still a few of us willing to stand up for that right because we understand it is our last stand of defense.
2. wanted a war with Syria: War with Syria. More like they wanted a war in Syria which they got. Now they are getting one in Ukraine.
3. Kyoto treaty: Because even oligarchs compete with each other. If you are an oligarch in country X, you won't like if oligarch in country Z has an unfair industrial advantage over you.
Notice how first they ban ( or try to ban ) guns and then they go to war? Like here in Aussieland, the PM of the day banned / confiscated guns twice and then sent our troops to two different wars. The same PM. Look, do they want us to know how to use guns or not??? Wouldn't it be better if we got in a little extra practise in our own time? I got old grand-rellies telling stories of how when they went to war there was a shortage of guns and so the new recruits practised with broom handles, and were only issued with steel at the front. Sounds like we learnt nothing and if war broke out tomorrow we would still be practising with broom handles.
A good argument for any Aussie if conscription ever re-appeared: You wouldn't let me have a gun before, why do you think I should use one now?
They still want all of those things. They'll just have to keep killing more people until they get them.