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发帖数: 945 | 1 http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/princeton-experts-say-us-
A new study from Princeton spells bad news for American democracy—namely,
that it no longer exists.
Asking "[w]ho really rules?" researchers Martin Gilens and Benjamin I. Page
argue that over the past few decades America's political system has slowly
transformed from a democracy into an oligarchy, where wealthy elites wield
most power.
Using data drawn from over 1,800 different policy initiatives from 1981 to
2002, the two conclude that rich, well-connected individuals on the
political scene now steer the direction of the country, regardless of or
even against the will of the majority of voters.
TPM Interview: Scholar Behind Viral 'Oligarchy' Study Tells You What It
Means
"The central point that emerges from our research is that economic elites
and organized groups representing business interests have substantial
independent impacts on U.S. government policy," they write, "while mass-
based interest groups and average citizens have little or no independent
influence."
As one illustration, Gilens and Page compare the political preferences of
Americans at the 50th income percentile to preferences of Americans at the
90th percentile as well as major lobbying or business groups. They find that
the government—whether Republican or Democratic—more often follows the
preferences of the latter group rather than the first.
The researches note that this is not a new development caused by, say,
recent Supreme Court decisions allowing more money in politics, such as
Citizens United or this month's ruling on McCutcheon v. FEC. As the data
stretching back to the 1980s suggests, this has been a long term trend, and
is therefore harder for most people to perceive, let alone reverse.
"Ordinary citizens," they write, "might often be observed to 'win' (that is,
to get their preferred policy outcomes) even if they had no independent
effect whatsoever on policy making, if elites (with whom they often agree)
actually prevail." |
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