This video should have millions of views…such a great explanation of a major issue in our governing system that many are unaware of.
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Study: US is an oligarchy, not a democracy
https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-27074746
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The US is dominated by a rich and powerful elite.
So concludes a recent study by Princeton University Prof Martin Gilens and Northwestern University Prof Benjamin I Page.
This is not news, you say.
Perhaps, but the two professors have conducted exhaustive research to try to present data-driven support for this conclusion. Here's how they explain it:
Multivariate analysis indicates that economic elites and organised groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on US government policy, while average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little or no independent influence.
In English: the wealthy few move policy, while the average American has little power.
The two professors came to this conclusion after reviewing answers to 1,779 survey questions asked between 1981 and 2002 on public policy issues. They broke the responses down by income level, and then determined how often certain income levels and organised interest groups saw their policy preferences enacted.
"A proposed policy change with low support among economically elite Americans (one-out-of-five in favour) is adopted only about 18% of the time," they write, "while a proposed change with high support (four-out-of-five in favour) is adopted about 45% of the time."
On the other hand:
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.
They conclude:
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 we believe that if policymaking is dominated by powerful business organisations and a small number of affluent Americans, then America's claims to being a democratic society are seriously threatened.
Eric Zuess, writing in Counterpunch, isn't surprised by the survey's results.
"American democracy is a sham, no matter how much it's pumped by the oligarchs who run the country (and who control the nation's "news" media)," he writes. "The US, in other words, is basically similar to Russia or most other dubious 'electoral' 'democratic' countries. We weren't formerly, but we clearly are now."
This is the "Duh Report", says Death and Taxes magazine's Robyn Pennacchia. Maybe, she writes, Americans should just accept their fate.
"Perhaps we ought to suck it up, admit we have a classist society and do like England where we have a House of Lords and a House of Commoners," she writes, "instead of pretending as though we all have some kind of equal opportunity here."
South Korea
Ferry tragedy was a manmade disaster - The death toll from the sinking of the Sewol off the south-eastern tip of South Korea could have been greatly reduced if the passengers had been properly instructed in safety procedures and the crew hadn't been among the first to abandon the ship, write the editors of South Korea's Joongang Daily.
The South Korean government also shares blame, they write. "It failed to grasp the seriousness of the accident from the start and didn't know how many were rescued or missing."
The government, they continue, should conduct a thorough investigation and prepare a report on how to upgrade the nation's "safety systems and procedures".
Argentina
Cristina Kirchner's sham populism - The government of Cristina Kirchner touts a populism that "redistributes wealth to benefit the poor", writes Luis Alberto Romero in Agentina's Clarin (translated by WorldCrunch).
In reality, he says, "the outcome has been greater wealth concentrations and more social polarisation, helped by subsidy policies".
The Kirchner regime, he argues, has been "built on two foundations: concentration of power and accumulation of wealth".
Algeria
Presidential vote endorses status quo - It seems clear that President Abdelaziz Bouteflika will win a fourth term in this week's election despite looking "more dead than alive", writes University of Houston Prof Robert Zaretsky in the Los Angeles Times.
Mr Bouteflika "is entrenched, propped up by generals and an uneasy status quo", he says.
"The question is," he writes, "how long will the government manage to impose scripted elections on a population ready for the risks and rewards of an unscripted future?"
Ukraine
Nato football v Russian chess - The Ukrainian crisis has taken Nato planners by surprise, writes Prof David Murphy of National University of Ireland, Maynooth, in the Irish Times. This, he says, is because of "fundamental cultural, strategic and political differences" between Russia and the West.
"Nato operates at a huge disadvantage as it needs consensus and co-operation within its member states in order to act," he writes. "President Vladimir Putin and his political and military staffs do not face such limitations and have the freedom to act quickly."
Russia has formulated a plan and is executing it, he concludes. It is up to the members of Nato to work together to stop it.
BBC Monitoring's quotes of the day
Ukrainian media respond to high-level meetings between officials from the US, EU, Ukraine and Russia in Geneva aimed resolving the crisis in Ukraine.
"There is an illusory hope for the conference in Geneva. Ukraine will be presented there as a pie which will be divided. Everything ... shows the signs of a grand plot, where big geopolitical players resolved their issues at Ukraine's expense. It will be like that this time around too." - Editorial in Glavkom.
"Today's meeting will show if the West can counter [Vladimir] Putin's plans to impose his 'world order'." - Editorial in Den.
"International talks will hardly improve the situation in Ukraine until people inside the country start talking. So the only thing the Geneva meeting could influence is to facilitate the beginning of talks inside the country between representatives of the east and the central authorities. If the meeting provides this impetus it will be a positive result." - Volodymyr Fesenko in Komsomolskaya Pravda v Ukraine.
Have you found an interesting opinion piece about global issues that we missed? Share it with us via email at echochambers (at) bbc.co.uk.
Evidence: US is not a democracy | Princeton University study
930,067次觀看 2022年7月5日
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Comment
Ed C 12天前
@Dino Sauro Correction mate The US is a Federation of States. The EU is a Confederation of States. Democracy is a principle that the majority rule, this is further complicated in the US by the electorate accord where it try to balance State powers by ensuring large states will not pray on smaller states, this ensures that no candidate just focus on big states while forgetting the needs of smaller states (California imposing on Montana for example), Texans are not Californians, Californians are not Floridians, Floridians are not New Yorkers and so on, so in the end the electorate collage accord ensures that the larger collective gets to rule by ensuring larger populated states like California, Texas, New York, Florida does not impose on the smaller states.
Ed C 12天前
@Eros Senpai There is a big difference in reality and fantasy. If you read the full report, it only generalize a point without actually giving factual evidence nor encompassing the large number of projects and laws voted by congress that have nothing to do with what the people like, want, or need. Is moronic to assume that people decides what project are taken for action or vote. The reality is people don't have an idea what projects congress take for action or are brought to the floor for voting. The Princeton report just look at numbers and make a baseless claim without going into detail of what is proposed and how many projects were finally approved. It is also a fact that legislators are the ones who introduce legislative projects and not the population and there is no such a thing that recollects the sentiment of the public of what legislators must bring to the floor for voting. The fact that most polls are based on 1000 people who are selected by the person who makes the poll (which can be controlled one way or the other)...it is funny that people like you are told of pink elephants and unicorns and take it for real.
Jared Caines 8小時前
Peter 2天前
As a Greek I'm assuming they are aware at Princeton that it was never a democracy....so i guess maybe the goal is to get people rallying against corruption and slip in the seed that it is a democracy so you can make strategic changes according to political agendas using a loss of democracy arguement .... But most people already know it is a constitutional republic.... Now if you can stop corruption in that then you are making progress...
藏 13 條回複The study doesn't take into account vote turnout, state legislatures and whether people voted according to their views. The video ignores freedom of association, speech and petition, and the fact that representative democracy is about electing decision makers, not making the decisions themselves.
Shatter
Never assume academics know anything. They spend more time reading each other's papers than interacting with the real world.
nothing
Lol the US is not a pure republic. You people have no idea. It’s supposed to be a democratic republic. The point of this video is it’s an oligarchy
Kirk Wahmmett
AFAIK, there are currently no true democratic countries out there, most are either Republics or a Parliamentary "Democracy".
Coe l
@Kirk Wahmmett democracy means bourgeois democracy, which is oligarchy with extra steps + it keeps people happy.
Moises Frias
@nothing democratic republic is a crappy system believe me I live in one country that is just like that
TehRubberMoose
@nothing Constitutional Federal Republic
iPeter
@GalacticPotato i hear ya....
iPeter
@Fleming there is obviously a blend of things and no need for things to be mutually exclusive....yet one side refuses to say the word democracy and the other refuses to say constitutional republic....probably because in each case the idea doesnt fit the agenda...either way people should be able to discuss things without insult and attack....
Pronto
Greece: the birthplace of democracy. Pity about the last 2,400 years.
mic pic
The problem had never been that corporations “buy off” politicians. The problem is that politicians are for sale.
Timothy Hansen
I would encourage anyone watching this video to actually read the PU study that's being discussed before making any conclusions. An important detail that was left out here is that special interest groups ALSO have a significant impact on US policy. These groups can vary a lot, from groups of companies to coalitions of concerned individuals sharing some goal or another. Yes, average Americans tend to get ignored. That does not mean you are powerless. Joining and contributing to special interest groups that care about the same policies you do is a fantastic move. Politicians pay more attention to these groups because A: they do tend to be better funded, and B: these groups tend to be far more vocal than a typical citizen.
Mehak Verma
As a Canadian, the government takes so much tax from us, I just wanna get a receipt at the end of each year to see what the government is even spending that money on
Matthew Grode
50% politician paychecks, 45% pointless and harmful policies/projects, 5% something that will actually positively affect your life
Lala Emm
Doesn't the Canadian government show you where your money goes? Damn
Vince Black
Golden plungers
jackie biskan
@Lala Emm they do but like 20% of it is always other
Andrew Nunez
The more I realize how hypocritical the US is the more I see why most countries despise us
Henri T
Remember when corporations controlling the government was a major issue in the late nineteenth century and efforts were taken to stop such influence? All I'm saying is that we've entered a second gilded age in America's history
Black The Ripper
been saying this for years, finally people are learning how bs this system is
Official Sauces
"In the US, there is basically one party - the business party. It has two factions, called Democrats and Republicans, which are somewhat different but carry out variations on the same policies. By and large, I am opposed to these policies. As is most of the population. "Noam Chomsky
Aristocles
Laws aren't just "handed to politicians." Even if a bill is introduced by a politician who's in cahoots with a corrupt firm, the bill will be changed countless times in committee before it even has a shot of becoming law, often coming out unrecognizable from how it went in. It's not like a single politician, no matter how corrupt, can pass laws by himself.
Kyle Lopez
This is the lions share of the reason that America’s “democracy” keeps being downgraded to point that we can’t even be called one in the technical sense anymore
Jolly Cooperation
Elites: "Our Government" Also Elites: "Your problem" Also Also Elites: "My Financial Gain" Also Also Also Elites: "Stock market is a free market until you fuck with my market."
Profezor Snayp
I'll never understand why lobbying isn't just called bribery. Because that's what it is.
The way the US manages health care alone says enough about its "democratic society." Will be interesting to see where they're at in another 20 years.
Just_Saiyan1986
I think Kishore Mahbubani best described the USA as a plutocracy now. One of the many issues that needs to be addressed is the legalised bribery which permeates their political system.
Sun Flower
I've seen lots of groups try to tackle big corporate government. They end up on a list (including everyone who supports said group) and one by one those groups are infiltrated and dismantled by the very corrupt government corporations they are trying to work against. Whenever i see donate now, (which i understand money makes the world go round) I become skeptical. Money corrupts all. What it comes down to is trust. Trust is very hard to come by when you are trying to organize a revolution. No revolution is going to work when it is out in the open like this.
Nick MaGrick
one exception I wanna say for this graph, I don't think that something should become law just because the majority of people support it. The majority has had really terrible ideas in the past, and will continue to do so in the future, on top of that its not so hard to convince the public to support something against their own interests if you have enough money for advertising and propaganda. There was a time when the public thought lead and espetos were safe, that pesticides came without side effects, or some of the more obvious social environments I don't even need to name. There will continue to be ideas that the public believes is a good thing right now and we won't recognize until generations later how dangerous or harmful a thing it was that we all currently support. How to fix that problem isn't super obvious, unfortunately I don't think there is a perfect solution, but you certainly don't want the masses to decide every time.
Leif Lindqvist
It's scary, also that in practice only having two parties is quite pathetic. Moreover, it seems possible to become president without the most basic knowledge of the foundations and purpose of politics. A Finnish friend who was in Boston for a couple of years doing medical research put it this way: "The US is like the Soviet Union...but capitalist".
Evil Simeon
I feel that the lack of participation and awareness of the American voter has as much to do with these findings as lobbying. The vast majority are not aware of what their representatives are actually doing and don’t care enough to figure it out. Politicians tend to listen when their job is at stake, when enough people make their opinions known. Unfortunately, US politics is played as a team sport with two teams. These teams need money to win elections and stay relevant, lobbyists are a good source. This turns politics and representation into a business, giving wealthy interests undo influence. There is no driving force to change this cycle. Taking money away is really the only way. Make it illegal to work as a lobbyist once you have been a politician. Severely limit or eliminate what a lobbyist can give to a party or individual. Limit campaign contributions to a very low level while reducing the need for money by caping what can be spent on any political campaign. When a president needs hundreds of millions just to run competitively the system stops working as intended. The need for money in politics is the root cause.
Jacob Rice
I've been saying this for a while, but when you're government doesn't represent you, you can't vote in a better government.
Esmond Lyons
Obviously we cannot reform this system. It's locked in place. Those who even try to fix it will be brought suffering, banishment, and isolation. Bravo to you, nonetheless.
shermanballz
We need this chart personalized for each politician, every time we have an election. Show us how well they represented us
BVSchaefer
I think one of the most important details about the political system of the United States that is often overlooked or outright ignored is that as a representative Republic we vote for the ideology of the person who is supposed to genuinely carry that ideology forward to the legislature. It's profoundly likely that no one elected representative embodies all the ideas and desires of its constituency. Who we vote for will always be a compromise from what we, individually, want. Additionally, we always forget that we are the Great Experiment. Each state is its own Republic and we were never meant to be a people of one mind, one ideology or one culture.
FusoKira
It’s hard to argue how flawed this thinking is when you realize her Republic is never meant to represent the majority but represent everyone to insure that the masses doesn’t mob rule the minority thinkers. Lobbying is the worse but what’s worse is people that will arguing complain about their issues but doesn’t vote when it comes time to change out these people who’ve been in office for almost 20 years
Devmafu Gaming
Great Video! One small thing I wanted to point out: Slight error in wording: In a Democracy, not a Republic. Ideally we want people who know what they are doing to make the laws, and not "general popular appeal" For example, there could be a woods that needs forest rangers, but for some reason a population hates forest rangers. The forest rangers should still be paid to do their job even without popular support. Same goes for firefighters and police. Popularity is not the best metric for merit, just look at celebrities. All that said, I'm nitpicking a little
Mopar_operator
Honestly the only real way to “fix the problem” is how the founding fathers did it and use the tools they left us to fix this exact problem. It’s the same tool they have been trying to get rid of for generations.
FIREFLY AVENGER
There is a excellent quote from a movie I remember; " America is not the shiny country on the hill it used to be in 1945, it's just a bank disguised as a country".
Robert Stutesman
Sitting here with a smile on my face listening as you say things I've known and felt my whole life. This is great to watch cause coming from Gen x I can tell you, nothing will change until the people change it. Good luck with that though, we are very comfortable and they keep us fighting each other.
Berkehan Keskin
In my opinion, literally the only way to stop corruption is that people that thinks like you must achieve higher positions in politics or have very strong influence over politicians. Good people must be strong and by that i mean being very rich or having very strong connections. I am afraid there is no way for weak people to fix anything.
Penguinstrophe
This is so based And I love how you can literally tell when something is genuine and well-thought out, and not just biased; by looking at how high quality and effort the video is
Non Sicuro
i love how americans thinks the rest of us are represented by our governments
jaden yuki
The pledge of allegiance says: "and to the republic, for wich it stands"
Wei Zhang
Key point; corruption is legal in the USA !
Boom Boom
Democracy actually didn't change form or nature since it was invented by the ancient Greeks more than two thousand years ago. Then, in ancient city of Athens, 90% percent of the city was formed by slaves (no rights at all) and only 10% of free people with the benefit of the right to vote and rule. In that environment Democracy was invented and applied. It looks very similar to what we have today, right? Or at least I see it exactly like that.
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