An interesting read if you have the time......

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.

www.princeton.edu/~mgilens/Gilens%20home...heories%203-7-14.pdf

Well, this really is not news now is it? But interesting to see some academia people come to same conclusion after a research. This for sure is not a conspiracy theory, even though some people would say so. I think this rich folks run the show thing is true in most western countries, although it might not be so clear as day.

Like in Finland, its the same thing, the rich folks run the house, but they try to cover it and usually they do it quite well... But in here there not so much room for huge political mistakes, a small country with small populace means, you fuck up once, and everybody will know you for it. That's why our prime minister resigned and is now heading for EU politics(=bigger paycheck). That fukwik managed to make huge amount of dept, steepen the wealth differencies, cut funding from poor people and so on. And then he decides to resign and leave the sinking ship.

Ok, back on topic then.

Interesting that it was published so recently, it would be good to see that make front page headlines in a newspaper but I doubt the Sun would run it.

I'm just surprised they need to research it

Its not like lobbying is top secret.

I wonder how the people who believe that anyone who suggests that there are elites and they fix things in their favour is a ‘conspiracy theorist’ continue to sustain their views. There’s surely got to come a point where you stop experiencing cognitive dissonance and just accept that it’s self-evident. The everyday person who doesn’t come into contact with these views, I can understand, but people who do pay attention to what is going on in the world, and still can’t see what is happening...it’s very hard to understand what they’re looking at.