For over a decade, the Progressive Review has argued that the First American Republic died in the 1980s. It's nice to get some scholarly support
Counter Current News - A groundbreaking study from Princeton University ... explains that U.S. democracy is pure fiction. That is, the researchers explain, it simply does not exist.
Researchers Martin Gilens along with Benjamin I. Page concluded that over the past few decades in particular, the U.S. political system has gradually changed in a way that has warped the Democratic Republic into a nearly pure oligarchy, where the elite 1% rule with almost total influence and control over the government and even police state apparatus.
The researchers drew data from over 1,800 different policy initiatives dating from 1981 to 2002. They concluded that wealthy, well-connected families are the ones who steer the direction of nearly everything politically in the United States.
“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 explain, “while mass-based interest groups and average citizens have little or no independent influence.”
4 comments:
Which is why we need the Green Party more than ever
This is the second recent study that has reached the same conclusion.
The Review is likely to remain alone in it's domestic reporting
of said study.
Most every republic in history is a failed third world nation. In short during the cold war the western republics had the balance of political economy to enable semi stable first world economy and civil society.
That ended when the cold war ended, the balance of political economy shifted toward the elites and harsh capitalism, hence the shift toward third world chaos for the western republics. The political force of internet and cell phones has be a slight partial replacement for the political force of the cold war politics. But so far cell phones are not enough and add fuel toward despotism in republics to repress new dissent enabled by the communication tech.
As things are now? of course economic failure fuels revolution and civil wars, ie social economic forces open up and won't be shut down until semi stable economy exists, and that semi stable economy can't exist without a balance of political economy.
The bigger powers start to fail internally, that fuels smaller players to start of wars of conquest and adventure, we are not at that stage yet but it when the USA fails to third world economic chaos along with the other western republics.
As it stands now, the very likely relief is going to come from nations being divided up due to revolution and civil war. European union divided up, the USA divided up, can be likely, but it will take a few decades to see if this trend is coming clearly. At this point it is likely enough.
In short must have a balance of political economy before stable economy and society and the shutting down of forces of chaos.
A little educational exercise, look up ten nations that are third to forth world TODAY. Look at their claimed government design, see what they say. Heck even the USSR called itself a republic complete with elections, all the candidates from the communist party-ha.
Look at the government designs and you will see Constitutions for those third world republics, most every one. You will see in your random selection all are republics of a kind most complete with some kind of elections and constitutions.
Third world chaos is the norm, and otherwise is the exception. The world does not revolve around your western head or nation. Third world misery is the norm for your properly designed system. The western republics are not that exceptional---except for the hangover from the cold war era.
The future is some sort of dark age until a new balance of political economy emerges,,, and this may not happen, only will happen if the west is lucky.... Remember the cold war era balance of political economy was an hard fought against lucky accident for the west.... The elites can't make something happen that they are always against, even if they understand it...
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