"Buttonwood: One Dollar, One Vote" The Economist

[applegrove]

Buttonwood: One Dollar, One Vote

The Economist

http://www.businessinsider.com/buttonwood-one-dollar-one-vote-2014-5

"SNIP.....................



Yet a new paper* from Martin Gilens of Princeton University and Benjamin Page of Northwestern University suggests such moments are rare, in America at least. They use statistical analysis to work out who most influences policy, and the results are depressing for those who believe in democracy.

The authors conclude that "Not only do ordinary citizens not have uniquely substantial power over policy decisions: they have little or no independent influence on policy at all."

Those with the biggest influence are the economic elites (defined as those in the top 10% by earning power) and interest groups representing business. By contrast, "mass-based" interest groups such as trade unions have little or no impact.

The authors arrived at this stark conclusion by examining 1,779 surveys of American opinion on policy issues taken between 1981 and 2002. In each case, the surveys had established the income level of respondents. For the views of special-interest groups, the authors used lobbies ranked as powerful in Fortune magazine's "Power 25" lists plus a further ten industries that spent heavily on lobbying.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/buttonwood-one-dollar-one-vote-2014-5#ixzz31vctzU8v




......................SNIP"

[surrealAmerican]

1. not terribly surprising ...

... but depressing as anything

[applegrove]

3. We are building a case. Bit by bit. Piece of evidence by piece of evidence.

[riderinthestorm]

2. A big sad K & R nt