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Showing Original Post only (View all)US Is an Oligarchy Not a Democracy, says Scientific Study [View all]
https://www.commondreams.org/view/2014/04/14In America, money talks... and democracy dies under its crushing weight. (Photo: Shutterstock)
***SNIP
To put it short: The United States is no democracy, but actually an oligarchy.
The authors of this historically important study are Martin Gilens and Benjamin I. Page, and their article is titled "Testing Theories of American Politics." The authors clarify that the data available are probably under-representing the actual extent of control of the U.S. by the super-rich:
Economic Elite Domination theories do rather well in our analysis, even though our findings probably understate the political influence of elites. Our measure of the preferences of wealthy or elite Americans though useful, and the best we could generate for a large set of policy cases is probably less consistent with the relevant preferences than are our measures of the views of ordinary citizens or the alignments of engaged interest groups. Yet we found substantial estimated effects even when using this imperfect measure. The real-world impact of elites upon public policy may be still greater.
Nonetheless, this is the first-ever scientific study of the question of whether the U.S. is a democracy. "Until recently it has not been possible to test these contrasting theoretical predictions [that U.S. policymaking operates as a democracy, versus as an oligarchy, versus as some mixture of the two] 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." Thats an enormous number of policy-issues studied.
What the authors are able to find, despite the deficiencies of the data, is important: the first-ever scientific analysis of whether the U.S. is a democracy, or is instead an oligarchy, or some combination of the two. The clear finding is that the U.S. is an oligarchy, no democratic country, at all. American democracy is a sham, no matter how much it's pumped by the oligarchs who run the country (and who control the nation's "news" media). The U.S., in other words, is basically similar to Russia or most other dubious "electoral" "democratic" countries. We weren't formerly, but we clearly are now. Today, after this exhaustive analysis of the data, the preferences of the average American appear to have only a minuscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy. That's it, in a nutshell.
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Yep, I think that is a root cause. Until it hits home with more people, many see
RKP5637
Apr 2014
#82
Nor was there any attempt to protect the protesters from the brutality of the robo cops even after
sabrina 1
Apr 2014
#16
If a storm blows down your home, do you wait to have it reappear overnight, OR....
Junkdrawer
Apr 2014
#20
I have. Great book. My wife's a theater historian and found it doubly interesting....
Junkdrawer
Apr 2014
#95
Saying you are glad you are old ..is a cop out. More reason to do something about the prob.
YOHABLO
Apr 2014
#75
Interesting. Somehow we knew this but a statistical analysis strengthens the assertion.
geckosfeet
Apr 2014
#6
Well, you are selecting someone to carry out the wishes of the economic elite.
geckosfeet
Apr 2014
#10
I can't thank you enough, Junkdrawer and xchrom. The Age of Uncertainty makes it all clear.
hedda_foil
Apr 2014
#99
A little work with YTD Video Downloader, and I had an 11 hour audiobook....
Junkdrawer
Apr 2014
#101
When the Banksters steal $16 Trillion and not a single one goes to jail, there's proof.
Octafish
Apr 2014
#21
Michael Parenti makes that same point over and over. In fact a Big Worry...
Junkdrawer
Apr 2014
#107
Yep. The oligarchs wanted Barack Obama to be president, so they simply installed him.
Nye Bevan
Apr 2014
#23
That may be the fact but it was because it gave them another issue to gather the idiots around -
jwirr
Apr 2014
#32
The Oligarchs, Corporations And Banks Know The Gig Is Up Without Voter Suppression
cantbeserious
Apr 2014
#37
50 acres today is nothing for a farmer. You can't do much with 50 acres today.
JDPriestly
Apr 2014
#86
The Oligarchs, Corporations And Banks Own And Control The Politicians That Own And Control Us
cantbeserious
Apr 2014
#36
This study might explain this one: Americans are more liberal than the policies we get
RainDog
Apr 2014
#40
True. But, it's kinda hard to get suckers to fight to "spread oligarchy", or "save oligarchy".
Tierra_y_Libertad
Apr 2014
#48
true, as it now stands.. but if the populace got together as oneand voted en mass, the kochs would
dionysus
Apr 2014
#52
Much More is needed than voting. I mean, every four years we get to "Choose"
truedelphi
Apr 2014
#79
but if everyone voted we could rule the primaries and get the right candidates
dionysus
Apr 2014
#113
Shocking! Like I always say. The most important vote you make is with your money & time.
raouldukelives
Apr 2014
#53
The principles of protecting SS and taxing the wealthy poll overwhelming favorability . . .
pa28
Apr 2014
#57
I don't need a study . I have lived here for 66 years. I see democracy in other countries and then
geretogo
Apr 2014
#67
Thanks . We here in Jackson County Oregon are in a battle right as to whether we have the right to
geretogo
Apr 2014
#89
we let the billionaires blast the country with 1200 coordinated radio stations for 25 years and
certainot
Apr 2014
#93