Who rules America?

[Perspicuo]

Who rules America?
http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/civil-rights/214857-who-rules-america

"The public be damned!"
— William H. Vanderbilt, railroad magnate, 1882

A shattering new study by two political science professors has found that ordinary Americans have virtually no impact whatsoever on the making of national policy in our country. The analysts found that rich individuals and business-controlled interest groups largely shape policy outcomes in the United States.

This study should be a loud wake-up call to the vast majority of Americans who are bypassed by their government. To reclaim the promise of American democracy, ordinary citizens must act positively to change the relationship between the people and our government

The new study, with the jaw-clenching title of "Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens," is forthcoming in the fall 2014 edition of Perspectives on Politics. Its authors, Martin Gilens of Princeton University and Benjamin Page of Northwestern University, examined survey data on 1,779 national policy issues for which they could gauge the preferences of average citizens, economic elites, mass-based interest groups and business-dominated interest groups. They used statistical methods to determine the influence of each of these four groups on policy outcomes, including both policies that are adopted and rejected.

 

[ksen]

I've seen a couple of studies that have reached this same conclusion.

But, until people start swinging from lampposts nothing is going to change.

 

[fromderinside]

Every potential politicain must adhere to the  Cincinatus principle

 

[prideandfall]

in other shocking news, water is wet and the sky is blue.

how this can still even be a question is just baffling to me:
1. a stupid, gullible, uneducated, immoral, corrupt populace considers voting to be a national popularity contest.
2. rich, greedy assholes observe this and figure there's no reason for them to not get in on the action, so start buying off the stupid, gullible, uneducated, immoral, corrupt politicians that are being elected by 'the people.'
3. US politics continues in this vein until we're the political equivalent of the british royal family - inbred, functionally ceremonial, little more than a figurehead to a way of life that is no longer relevant.

politics in the US isn't some grand con perpetuated on the citizens by a shadowy cabal, it's simply the inevitable result of putting election results in the hands of 300 million retarded people.

 

[dystopian]

A problem not unique to the US, unfortunately. The more unrestricted the power of lobbying, the more of a problem this sort of thing becomes. The regular public just can't compete with the billions poured in by lobbygroups when it comes to getting politicians to listen. The politician mostly just hears the stuff the successful (read: rich) lobbyists whisper in their ears because they have a megaphone while the public has to make do with a whisper in a crowded room. Of course, it doesn't help that one can get a few million in 'campaign donations' if one helps out whatever industry is doing the lobbying.

 

[maxparrish]

It's not a 'class' that rules America, it is an cultural and political mindset...aka, liberalism/progressivism. Heck we now have Obamacare, increases in taxes for upper income individuals, more money being poured into grants and high education, gay marriage, higher mpg requirements, pending amnesty for 5 to 8 million illegals, and new greenhouse gas regulations, and thousands of pages of financial reform regulation.

The left won long ago and its still carping about those rich folk (the richest of which seem to be a least half liberal as well). Does being a member of the left require chronic unhappiness, even when you've won?

 

[Emily Lake]

It's not a 'class' that rules America, it is an cultural and political mindset...aka, liberalism/progressivism. Heck we now have Obamacare, increases in taxes for upper income individuals, more money being poured into grants and high education, gay marriage, higher mpg requirements, pending amnesty for 5 to 8 million illegals, and new greenhouse gas regulations, and thousands of pages of financial reform regulation.

The left won long ago and its still carping about those rich folk (the richest of which seem to be a least half liberal as well). Does being a member of the left require chronic unhappiness, even when you've won?

I can square most of those positions with what I understand of libertarian principles... but how does gay marriage play in to the downfall of america as you know it?

 

[AthenaAwakened]

It's not a 'class' that rules America, it is an cultural and political mindset...aka, liberalism/progressivism. Heck we now have Obamacare, increases in taxes for upper income individuals, more money being poured into grants and high education, gay marriage, higher mpg requirements, pending amnesty for 5 to 8 million illegals, and new greenhouse gas regulations, and thousands of pages of financial reform regulation.

The left won long ago and its still carping about those rich folk (the richest of which seem to be a least half liberal as well). Does being a member of the left require chronic unhappiness, even when you've won?

 

[Underseer]

Who rules America?
http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/civil-rights/214857-who-rules-america

"The public be damned!"
— William H. Vanderbilt, railroad magnate, 1882

A shattering new study by two political science professors has found that ordinary Americans have virtually no impact whatsoever on the making of national policy in our country. The analysts found that rich individuals and business-controlled interest groups largely shape policy outcomes in the United States.

This study should be a loud wake-up call to the vast majority of Americans who are bypassed by their government. To reclaim the promise of American democracy, ordinary citizens must act positively to change the relationship between the people and our government

The new study, with the jaw-clenching title of "Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens," is forthcoming in the fall 2014 edition of Perspectives on Politics. Its authors, Martin Gilens of Princeton University and Benjamin Page of Northwestern University, examined survey data on 1,779 national policy issues for which they could gauge the preferences of average citizens, economic elites, mass-based interest groups and business-dominated interest groups. They used statistical methods to determine the influence of each of these four groups on policy outcomes, including both policies that are adopted and rejected.

You have a problem with being ruled by your betters, you worthless commoner?

Nothing is stopping you from working hard and becoming wealthy, and then using your wealth to have all the political power you want. Typically, you think you should get it all for free on the backs of those who work harder than you, like Paris Hilton. Don't you understand that if we allow commoners to determine their own fate that this will reduce the power of the aristocracy and thus make us all less free?

Why do you hate our freedom? And what's so great about collectivism, anyway? Do I really have to remind you that the economies of communist countries collapsed two decades ago? I know that was a long time ago, but you can't have forgotten already. [/conservolibertarian]

 

[Underseer]

I'm sorry, but I'm just struck by the incredible unfairness of it all. Why do the commoners have any wealth or power left at all? What can we do to transfer wealth and power to the more deserving aristocracy even faster? More tax breaks? More deregulation? What if we removed all laws that place restrictions on campaign donations? There has to be something we can do to make this transfer of wealth and power go faster. The suffering of the aristocracy must be incredible right now, and as moral beings we have an obligation to ease their pain! Those poor, poor aristocrats, and once again, all the stupid collectivists can think about is how to persecute aristocrats even more. I weep just thinking about it. [/conservolibertarian]

 

[coloradoatheist]

Who rules America?
http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/civil-rights/214857-who-rules-america

You have a problem with being ruled by your betters, you worthless commoner?

Nothing is stopping you from working hard and becoming wealthy, and then using your wealth to have all the political power you want. Typically, you think you should get it all for free on the backs of those who work harder than you, like Paris Hilton. Don't you understand that if we allow commoners to determine their own fate that this will reduce the power of the aristocracy and thus make us all less free?

Why do you hate our freedom? And what's so great about collectivism, anyway? Do I really have to remind you that the economies of communist countries collapsed two decades ago? I know that was a long time ago, but you can't have forgotten already. [/conservolibertarian]

It's possible to get involved in politics that way. But if you want to get involed in politics there are other ways. You can get involved with campaigns and other organizations. Getting wealthy isn't the answer.

But to answer the original post, we're a country of 300 million people so your vote and voice isn't going to be very big. And to get it heard you will have to spend time and effort doing it, which most people don't want to put forth. But I would also say that we live at a time where the common person can have their voice heard with you tube channels, blogs, twitter, etc.

 

[maxparrish]

The major political divide in America is liberal vs. conservative, libertarians are a very small minority. All the items I mentioned are positions that are commonly identified as liberal, not conservative. That libertarians sometimes straddle the divide is not particularly relevant.

While liberals are consumed with complaining about class, race, and gender it is not a useful schema for the actual power relationships in politics.

 

[Perspicuo]

While liberals are consumed with complaining about class, race, and gender it is not a useful schema for the actual power relationships in politics.

So the people denouncing are the problem?
I hope I've misinterpreted what you wrote.



This is the saddest thing I've read (since Monday went shazbot):

Men Without a Country: Mike Brown, Trayvon Martin, My Father and Me
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articl...ke-brown-trayvon-martin-my-father-and-me.html

It's just horrible when certain people must say "This is not my country, I've come to realize it never was".



Not depressed yet? Try:
Democracy's Dual Dangers
http://chronicle.com/article/Democracys-Dual-Dangers/142971/

American democracy is going through one of its periodic bouts of self-loathing. The public disapproves of the performance of all the branches of government, even the Supreme Court. Approval ratings for Congress are so low it is tempting to wonder about the sanity of the small number of people who still express confidence in it. The recent shutdown in Washington provoked a furious round of critical commentary from academics and pundits across the political spectrum. There is near unanimity: This is no way to run a government.

These recent travails have also provided plenty of material for commentators who see in every setback evidence of a broader decline. The historian Niall Ferguson has been predicting the unwinding of American power and influence for more than a decade. In the last few years, his warnings have gathered pace: Every time America's politicians lumber into another hole, Ferguson says I told you so. Even onetime optimists like Thomas Friedman, of The New York Times, are undergoing a crisis of faith.

Well, at least there's self-loathing, which is good as long as it doesn't dissolve the few pieces that are still left of hope. Now, for a solution...