A new study conducted by Princeton University and Northwestern University shows that America is less a democracy and more an oligarchy. The power of money was shown to be more powerful than the voice of the general voter, due to the influence of corporate lobbying and the power of the wealthy. The study researched 1779 policy issues in the period between 1981 and 2002.
Statistics include the fact that when 80% of the public demanded a particular change, they only got what they wanted around 43% of the time. One of the researchers said that the data points to the fact that "mass-based interest groups as a whole do not reliably side with the wishes of the average citizen.” An oligarchy was defined as “rule by a small number of wealthy people.” The researchers warned against completely characterizing the country as an oligarchy but did say that it is moving towards that end.
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/4/16/oligarchy-politicsus.html
I see the argument for calling America more an oligarchy than a democracy, but I don't feel their is sufficient evidence to prove it. On the studies findings, co-author Ben Page said, "Our findings are consistent with the U.S. being an oligarchy but don’t prove that to be so," adding, "oligarchy is increasing as economic inequality increases and Congress and the Supreme Court dismantle regulations.”
ReplyDeleteI am in agreement with Jon yet I do feel the author made some pretty good analysis about how we elect officials based on what they tell us that they are going to do for the citizen and usually don't keep their end of the bargain. Once we elect them in the office they tend to forget their promises and side with the wealthy people. The saying that Money equals power, I think will always prove to be right.
ReplyDeleteLack of evidence. Poorly written article.
ReplyDelete