The End Of American Democracy: U.S. now an Oligarchy

[Nbadan]

Guess democracy was passe anyway.....celebrate your new rich overlords...


US Is an Oligarchy Not a Democracy, says Scientific Study
Published on Monday, April 14, 2014 by Common Dreams
US Is an Oligarchy Not a Democracy, says Scientific Study
by Eric Zuesse


study, to appear in the Fall 2014 issue of the academic journal Perspectives on Politics, finds that the U.S. is no democracy, but instead an oligarchy, meaning profoundly corrupt, so that the answer to the study’s opening question, "Who governs? Who really rules?" in this country, is:

"Despite the seemingly strong empirical support in previous studies for theories of majoritarian democracy, our analyses suggest that majorities of the American public actually have little influence over the policies our government adopts. Americans do enjoy many features central to democratic governance, such as regular elections, freedom of speech and association, and a widespread (if still contested) franchise. But, ..." and then they go on to say, it's not true, and that, "America's claims to being a democratic society are seriously threatened" by the findings in this, the first-ever comprehensive scientific study of the subject, which shows that there is instead "the nearly total failure of 'median voter' and other Majoritarian Electoral Democracy theories . When the preferences of economic elites and the stands of organized interest groups are controlled for, the preferences of the average American appear to have only a minuscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy."

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.

More:
https://www.commondreams.org/view/2014/04/14

This invasion and takeover of America happened with no gunfire and no bad press....impressive...

[Nbadan]

Why Economist Thomas Piketty Has Scared the Pants Off the American Right


Thomas Piketty is no radical. His 700-page book Capital in the 21st Century is certainly not some kind of screed filled with calls for class warfare. In fact, the wonky and mild-mannered French economist opens his tome with a description of his typical Gen X abhorrence of what he calls the “lazy rhetoric of anticapitalism." He is in no way, shape, or form a Marxist. As fellow-economist James K. Galbraith has underscored in his review of the book, Piketty "explicitly (and rather caustically) rejects the Marxist view" of economics.

But he does do something that gives right-wingers in America the willies. He writes calmly and reasonably about economic inequality, and concludes, to the alarm of conservatives, that there is no magical force that drives capitalist societies toward shared prosperity. Quite the opposite. He warns that if we don't do something about it, we may end up with a society that is more top-heavy than anything that has come before — something even worse than the Gilded Age.

For this, in America, you get branded a crazed Communist by the right. In this past weekend's New York Times, Ross Douthat sounds the alarm in an op-ed ominously tited " Marx Rises Again." The columnist hints that he and his fellow pundits have only pretended to read the book but nevertheless feel comfortable making statements like "Yes, that’s right: Karl Marx is back from the dead" about Piketty. The National Review's James Pethokoukis joins in the games with a silly article called " The New Marxism" in which he repeats the nonsense that Piketty is some sort of Marxist apologist.

For Douthat and his tribe, the proposition that unfettered capitalism marches toward gross inequality is not a conclusion based on carefully collected data, strenuous research and a sweeping view of history. It has to be a Communist plot.

http://www.alternet.org/economy/why-economist-thomas-piketty-has-scared-pants-american-right

trickle down economics has been a failure..the redistribution of wealth before Reagan led to the creation of the middle class which has been the economic force driving the American economy...a recent study confirmed suspicions that the middle class is no longer the largest holder of wealth....

[Nbadan]

Study: American public has ‘virtually no influence’ over politics in face of wealthy interest groups


It’s not just your imagination: The influence of money in politics has indeed drowned out the voices of American voters, a new analysis shows, with runaway corporate lobbying and a lack of campaign finance reform to blame for giving much more political weight to the wealthy.

Researchers at Princeton University and Northwestern University compared the public’s influence on 1,779 policy issues between 1981 and 2002, finding that more often than not, the interests of wealthy groups and individuals won out over the demands of the general public. For instance, when 80 percent of the public asked for a change of some sort, they got their way only about 43 percent of the time.

The study, its authors say, points to the overwhelming power of wealthy lobbying groups and individuals backing certain interests in American politics, and the marginalization of voters and public advocacy groups.

“I expected to find that ordinary Americans had a modest degree of influence over government policy and that mass-based interest groups would serve to promote those interests,” Martin Gilens, a political scientist at Princeton and a co-author of the study, wrote in an email to Al Jazeera.

“What we found instead was that ordinary Americans have virtually no influence over government policy and that mass-based interest groups as a whole do not reliably side with the wishes of the average citizen.”


THE REST:

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/4/16/oligarchy-politicsus.html

http://i1.wp.com/themonkeycage.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/gilens21.png

[TDMVPDPOY]

all jews + wealthy >>>>>>>> avg person in any country

[boutons_deux]

The Great Boutons been telling all y'all this for years.

Voters disenfranchised by the 1%/VRWC/UCA corrupting govt, all levels. Govt of the oligarchy, by the oligarchy, for the oligarchy. Most of the Congress are millionaires, or will be in office, or after the leave office to lobby. Same for Generals, Admirals.

Elections are a business, not an exercise in democracy.

Elections are basically non-stop because once someone is elected, they are in, continue in election-money-raising mode (aka, accepting bribes) from day one,

Govt has become a protection racket for the oligarchy.

old news

Still waiting for anybody here who ridicules "America is fucked and unfuckable" to lay out specific actions how to unfuck America.

[boutons_deux]

"Most people in a democracy think that the government pays a lot of attention to average citizens.

And what we found was when average citizens disagree with more affluent people and more organized interest groups, the average citizens lose out almost always.

In other words, they have almost no independent influence."

http://www.alternet.org/economy/how-obscenely-wealthy-are-strangling-our-democracy?paging=off&current_page=1#bookmark

[101A]

It's not Right vs. Left, or Dem vs. Rep.

Those are simply tools the true powers use to stay the true powers.

The Occupy folks and Tea Party were onto something. They needed to realize their common ground, before they were co-opted into the existing tribes.

They didn't

[pgardn]

"Most people in a democracy think that the government pays a lot of attention to average citizens.

And what we found was when average citizens disagree with more affluent people and more organized interest groups, the average citizens lose out almost always.

In other words, they have almost no independent influence."

http://www.alternet.org/economy/how-obscenely-wealthy-are-strangling-our-democracy?paging=off&current_page=1#bookmark

If a group of people really think they are getting screwed and organize things get done. It takes a fervent group united for a common cause. Ask the Republicans what they think of the Sierra Club and endangered species.

The NRA did not start out as a lobby to protect some financial rights.

The local level government can be especially sensitive to organized people with a common cause.

But I get your general drift... I think it's overstated.

[pgardn]

It's not Right vs. Left, or Dem vs. Rep.

Those are simply tools the true powers use to stay the true powers.

The Occupy folks and Tea Party were onto something. They needed to realize their common ground, before they were co-opted into the existing tribes.

They didn't

Many of the original t party organizers quit when they got swallowed up. They saw they were going to get used.
This is basically the point I was trying to make but I failed to read your post.

[Winehole23]

http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/arxiv/pdf/1107/1107.5728v2.pdf

via, http://www.forbes.com/sites/bruceupbin/2011/10/22/the-147-companies-that-control-everything/

[boutons_deux]

If a group of people really think they are getting screwed and organize things get done. It takes a fervent group united for a common cause. Ask the Republicans what they think of the Sierra Club and endangered species.

The NRA did not start out as a lobby to protect some financial rights.

The local level government can be especially sensitive to organized people with a common cause.

But I get your general drift... I think it's overstated.

The NRA was a gun hobbyist org doing useful gun/hunting education until a TX murderer took it over and turned into the marketing dept for the guns/ammo industry, spewing Constitution-perverting propaganda we hear parroted everyday by fun fellatin parrots.

Sierra org is routinely outspent in Congress by corporate money.

the 99% ARE getting screwed, have been since the 1970s, esp since St Ronnie The Useless Idiot got elected to serve the VRWC interests, but the 99% aren't getting organized, WON'T elect buy a hanful of grayson/merkel/warren types, and so the Regugs/tea baggers will continue to block even middle of the road legislation, and will fucking destroy the country if they win WH and Congress (aka, Ryan's budget, etc, etc).

[boutons_deux]

the corps getting want the want from govt, and screwing up Internet

In Policy Shift, F.C.C. Will Allow A Web Fast Lane

The principle that all Internet content should be treated equally as it flows through cables and pipes to consumers looks all but dead.

Companies like Disney, Google or Netflix will be allowed to pay Internet service providers like Comcast and Verizon for special, faster lanes to send video and other content to their customers under new rules to be proposed by the Federal Communications Commission, the agency said on Wednesday.

The proposed rules are a turnaround for the agency on what is known as net neutrality — the idea that Internet users should have equal ability to see any legal content they choose, and that no providers of legal content should be discriminated against in providing their offerings to consumers.

The proposal comes three months after a federal appeals court struck down (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/15/technology/appeals-court-rejects-fcc-rules-on-internet-service-providers.html?_r=0), for the second time, agency rules intended to guarantee a free and open Internet.

The rules could radically reshape how Internet content is delivered to consumers. For example, if a gaming company cannot afford the fast track to players, customers could lose interest and its product could fail.

The rules are also likely to eventually raise prices as the likes of Disney and Netflix pass on to customers whatever they pay for the speedier lanes, which are the digital equivalent of an uncongested car pool lane on a busy freeway.

Consumer groups immediately attacked the proposal, saying that not only would costs rise, but that big, rich companies with the money to pay large fees to Internet service providers would be favored over small start-ups with innovative business models — stifling the birth of the next Facebook or Twitter.

“If it goes forward, this capitulation will represent Washington at its worst,” said Todd O’Boyle, program director of Common Cause’s Media and Democracy Reform Initiative. “Americans were promised, and deserve, an Internet that is free of toll roads, fast lanes and censorship — corporate or governmental.”

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/04/24/technology/fcc-new-net-neutrality-rules.html?from=homepage

[Nbadan]

Late to the game...again...

Al Gore: ‘Our democracy has been hacked’


CHICAGO — You think Al Gore is upset about global warming? You ought to hear him on American politics.

“The American political system is an utter catastrophe,” he said. “Our democracy has been hacked. The country is utterly and completely paralyzed. Hog-tied. And on a measure that will mean countless deaths in the future.”

“Why?” Gore asked. “The influence of money. The average member of the House and Senate has to spend five hours per day begging rich people for money. Begging rich interests for money!”

And those rich people and rich interests don’t give you money with no strings attached. No way. In return for their money, they want votes that will benefit them. “The piper is paid,” Gore said.

more...

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/05/al-gore-democracy-hacked-106642.html

OK, but how is Al Gore not part of the problem? How is Al Gore gonna save what's left of our democracy?

[Nbadan]

Meanwhile...

A Brilliant Plan To Give Billionaires Who Try To Buy U.S. Elections A Taste Of Their Own Medicine


How bad has the money-in-politics situation gotten? A new study by researchers at Princeton and Northwestern universities found that, and I'm quoting directly here: "When the preferences of economic elites and the stands of organized interest groups are controlled for, the preferences of the average American appear to have only a minuscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy.”

In other words, if you can't afford to hire a lobbyist or raise money for politicians, your opinion literally does not matter.

BUT...THERE IS HOPE...

http://www.upworthy.com/a-brilliant-plan-to-give-billionaires-who-try-to-buy-us-elections-a-taste-of-their-own-medicine?c=fea