Princeton Concludes What Kind of Government America Really Has

Princeton Concludes What Kind of Government America Really Has, and It's Not a Democracy


The news: A new scientific study from Princeton researcher Martin Gilens and Northwestern researcher Benjamin I. Page has finally put some science behind the recently popular argument that the United States isn't a democracy any more. And they've found that in fact, America is basically an oligarchy.


An oligarchy is a system where power is effectively wielded by a small number of individuals defined by their status called oligarchs. Members of the oligarchy are the rich, the well connected and the politically powerful, as well as particularly well placed individuals in institutions like banking and finance or the military.


For their study, Gilens and Page compiled data from roughly 1,800 different policy initiatives in the years between 1981 and 2002. They then compared those policy changes with the expressed opinion of the United State public. Comparing the preferences of the average American at the 50th percentile of income to what those Americans at the 90th percentile preferred, as well as the opinions of major lobbying or business groups, the researchers found out that the government followed the directives set forth by the latter two much more often.


It's beyond alarming. As Gilens and Page write, "the preferences of the average American appear to have only a minuscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy." In other words, their statistics say your opinion literally does not matter.


That might explain why mandatory background checks on gun sales supported by 83% to 91% of Americans aren't in place, or why Congress has taken no action on greenhouse gas emissions even when such legislation is supported by the vast majority of citizens.


This problem has been steadily escalating for four decades. While there are some limitations to their data set, economists Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez constructed income statistics based on IRS data that go back to 1913. They found that the gap between the ultra-wealthy and the rest of us is much bigger than you would think, as mapped by these graphs from the Center On Budget and Policy Priorities:




Piketty and Saez also calculated that as of September 2013 the top 1% of earners had captured 95% of all income gains since the Great Recession ended. The other 99% saw a net 12% drop to their income. So not only is oligarchy making the rich richer, it's driving policy that's made everyone else poorer.


What kind of oligarchy? As Gawker's Hamilton Nolan explains, Gilens and Page's findings provide support for two theories of governance: economic elite domination and biased pluralism. The first is pretty straightforward and states that the ultra-wealthy wield all the power in a given system, though some argue that this system still allows elites in corporations and the government to become powerful as well. Here, power does not necessarily derive from wealth, but those in power almost invariably come from the upper class. Biased pluralism on the other hand argues that the entire system is a mess and interest groups ruled by elites are fighting for dominance of the political process. Also, because of their vast wealth of resources, interest groups of large business tend to dominate a lot of the discourse.


In either case, the result is the same: Big corporations, the ultra-wealthy and special interests with a lot of money and power essentially make all of the decisions. Citizens wield little to no political power. America, the findings indicate, tends towards either of these much more than anything close to what we call "democracy" — systems such as majoritarian electoral democracy or majoritarian pluralism, under which the policy choices pursued by the government would reflect the opinions of the governed.


Nothing new: And no, this isn't a problem that's the result of any recent Supreme Court cases — at least certainly not the likes FEC v. Citizens United or FEC v. McCutcheon. The data is pretty clear that America has been sliding steadily into oligarchy for decades, mirrored in both the substantive effect on policy and in the distribution of wealth throughout the U.S. But cases like those might indicate the process is accelerating.


"Perhaps economic elites and interest group leaders enjoy greater policy expertise than the average citizen does," Gilens and Page write. "Perhaps they know better which policies will benefit everyone, and perhaps they seek the common good, rather than selfish ends, when deciding which policies to support.


"But we tend to doubt it."


Princeton Concludes What Kind of Government America Really Has, and It's Not a Democracy - PolicyMic

Kleptocracy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kleptocracy, alternatively cleptocracy or kleptarchy, (from Greek: κλέπτης - kleptēs, "thief"[1] and κράτος - kratos, "power, rule",[2] hence "rule by thieves") is a form of political and government corruption where the government exists to increase the personal wealth and political power of its officials and the ruling class at the expense of the wider population, often with pretense of honest service. This type of government corruption is often achieved by the embezzlement of state funds.


Characteristics
Kleptocracies are generally associated with corrupt forms of authoritarian governments, particularly dictatorships, oligarchies, military juntas, or some other forms of autocratic and nepotist government in which no outside oversight is possible, due to the ability of the kleptocrat(s) to personally control both the supply of public funds and the means of determining their disbursal. Kleptocratic rulers typically treat their country's treasury as though it were their own personal bank account, spending the funds on luxury goods as they see fit. Many kleptocratic rulers also secretly transfer public funds into secret personal numbered bank accounts in foreign countries in order to provide themselves with continued luxury if/when they are eventually removed from power and forced to leave the country.
Kleptocracy is most common in developing countries whose economies are based on the export of natural resources. Such export incomes constitute a form of economic rent and are therefore easier to siphon off without causing the income itself to decrease (for example, due to capital flight as investors pull out to escape the high taxes levied by the kleptocrats).
Kleptocracy, alternatively cleptocracy or kleptarchy, from Greek: κλέπτης (thief) and κράτος (rule), is a term applied to a government subject to control fraud that takes advantage of governmental corruption to extend the personal wealth and political power of government officials and the ruling class (collectively, kleptocrats), via the embezzlement of state funds at the expense of the wider population, sometimes without even the pretense of honest service. The term means "rule by thieves". Not an "official" form of government (such as democracy, republic, monarchy, theocracy), the term is a pejorative for governments perceived to have a particularly severe and systemic problem with the selfish misappropriation of public funds by those in power.


Effects
The effects of a kleptocratic regime or government on a nation are typically adverse in regards to the faring of the state's economy, political affairs and civil rights. Kleptocracy in government often vitiates prospects of foreign investment and drastically weakens the domestic market and cross-border trade. As the kleptocracy normally embezzles money from its citizens by misusing funds derived from tax payments, or money laundering schemes, a kleptocratically structured political system tends to degrade nearly everyone's quality of life.


In addition, the money that kleptocrats steal is often taken from funds that were earmarked for public amenities, such as the building of hospitals, schools, roads, parks and the like – which has further adverse effects on the quality of life of the citizens living under a kleptocracy.[3] The quasi-oligarchy that results from a kleptocratic elite also subverts democracy (or any other political format the state is ostensibly under).[4]

A good explanation of the masonic government of America- rule by the guild of thieves, diabolists, etc...

And yes I'm conflicted about admitting this. :|

Values of the Antichrist my brother.

Cita:

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Iniciado por Michael

Values of the Antichrist my brother.

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Sadly I can't disagree; the Revolution in France was more immediate but that in America, while well-intentioned (I believe), bore its fruits much later than 1789. The poisoned pill of the U.S. Revolution was that it wasn't well-defined except in illuminatist terminology rather than in tradition- but this is the benefit of 200+ years of history speaking I suppose and I do often pray for the evangelization of my country.

The System is established with those values, and we, as Christians, are going to have a very hard time in this System. I went to a beach right here in Florida and for my surprise, part of the Park was adopted by a Society of Atheists and Humanists Secularists. The Church has lost all of her External Jurisdicction. Hence, people who don't believe in God are the ones that get in charge of the System. This will be the System that will govern the world after the Government of the Great Pope and the Great Monarch. We must pray.

Cita:

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Iniciado por Michael

The System is established with those values, and we, as Christians, are going to have a very hard time in this System. I went to a beach right here in Florida and for my surprise, part of the Park was adopted by a Society of Atheists and Humanists Secularists. The Church has lost all of her External Jurisdicction. Hence, people who don't believe in God are the ones that get in charge of the System. This will be the System that will govern the world after the Government of the Great Pope and the Great Monarch. We must pray.

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God doesn't let the Demon get away with his mischief for no reason- and hence, I think, the American commonwealth serves a purpose in this world that only God, in His infinite wisdom and mercy, can see. :o I do try to be a patriotic citizen of the U.S. but I also keep in mind the admonitions of the Fathers, Apostles, and our Lord Himself: give to Caesar his due and to God His due.

Since I'm disgusted by the horrors taking place every day in my country I prefer to do what is best-advised: recuse myself from politics, etc. and revile the contemporary political whores of America like Diogenes the Cynic reviled the political fops of Athens. :toyfeliz:

I will do my best to save my own skin from hell (or purgatory). If I can convince others to do likewise then God be praised.
Tis better to be indebted to God than to Caesar my brother. :toyfeliz: