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A study by Princeton and Northwestern universities shows that a small group of elite have control over the general population and the government only supports the rich and powerful while the masses have no say whatsoever. The 42 page report concludes "we believe that if policymaking is dominated by powerful business organizations and a small number of affluent Americans, then America's claims to being a democratic society are seriously threatened."
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Study Concludes USA is an Oligarchy
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(Score: 5, Interesting) by MrGuy on Thursday April 17 2014, @02:20PM
There's a lot of social science (economics especially) that predicate themselves on humans being rational actors with well defined preferences.
Advertisers laugh their asses off at these people. It's an entire industry dedicated to proving people don't make decisions rationally, and that they can be manipulated to make the decision you want if you do it right.
What this study is effectively saying is that the advertisers are right. If people were truly rational, independent actors, money wouldn't matter for political campaigns. There would be no influence to buy, because money and advertising couldn't buy you votes. People would vote the right people into office every time.
But that's NOT what happens. The people who can donate the big dollars DO have influence. The politicians with the biggest war chests DO win. Not every time, but often enough. Dollars DO swing votes. As long as this is true, politicians will play the game that's in front of them.