How does it feel when one reads in a foreign newspaper that the United State government has evolved to an oligarchy. For me, it makes me feel sad. Northwestern and Princeton Universities have published a study indicating that we are at that stage. I do agree with their premise because I am becoming less sure that the citizens of this country can affect change. The people with money and influence control the process. The article is found here.

“The peer-reviewed study, which will be taught at these universities in September, says: "The central point that emerges from our research is that economic elites and organised groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on US government policy, while mass-based interest groups and average citizens have little or no independent influence."
Researchers concluded that US government policies rarely align with the the preferences of the majority of Americans, but do favour special interests and lobbying organisations: "When a majority of citizens disagrees with economic elites and/or with organised interests, they generally lose. Moreover, because of the strong status quo bias built into the US political system, even when fairly large majorities of Americans favour policy change, they generally do not get it.””

Tags: Politics