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Laws pass when well funded special interests get behind them. Put another way, the will of the people never results in anything unless it coincidentally matche

Laws pass when well funded special interests get behind them. Put another way, the will of the people never results in anything unless it coincidentally matches the causes of well funded special interests. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics/article/testing-theories-of-american-politics-elites-interest-groups-and-average-citizens/62327F513959D0A304D4893B382B992B https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-poli...

canadianfella 5y ago
> the will of the people never results in anything unless it coincidentally matches the causes of well funded special interests. That’s just false.
- vmception 5y ago
  You want to split hairs over the word never versus little or no independent influence? > Multivariate analysis indicates that economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little or no independent influence.
  - username90 5y ago
    That is for USA though and not the rest of the world. Europe has quite a lot of successful political pushes from the people.
    - vmception 5y ago
      Yes a comment about the USA citing a source about a study of the USA in a thread about a US federal law
Clewza313 5y ago
Well funded special interests don't operate in a vacuum. Amazon sees the way the wind is blowing, the cost in firing people who are smoking weed recreationally outside work hours, and the profit to be made if they do start selling it, so why not support it?
- vmception 5y ago
  Right, occasionally the people influence special interests which can be seen here The Princeton study is pretty clear that the special interests are typically operating in their own vacuum that is way more effective They break down the types of special interests too. Broad population ones are no different than populist movements with no effectiveness
wutbrodo 5y ago
Amazon claims that this is because state laws have been changing, and even if you don't take them at their word, it seems pretty straightforward. Why would they want to get involved in shifting this particular norm? Why didn't they do it before a huge chunk of the country legalized it at the state level? It just doesn't seem like an especially relevant analysis of this event.
- cies 5y ago
  > Why would they want to get involved in shifting this particular norm? Indeed they dont. They just want to benefit (instead of being harmed) by the shift. Same we see with "rainbow" colored logos on big corps and big corps supporting "racial equality": they only do so once the norm has largely shifted. Big corps dont push for social change unless they get better from it (i.e.: makes them look good).

canadianfella 5y ago

> the will of the people never results in anything unless it coincidentally matches the causes of well funded special interests. That’s just false.

vmception 5y ago
You want to split hairs over the word never versus little or no independent influence? > Multivariate analysis indicates that economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little or no independent influence.
- username90 5y ago
  That is for USA though and not the rest of the world. Europe has quite a lot of successful political pushes from the people.
  - vmception 5y ago
    Yes a comment about the USA citing a source about a study of the USA in a thread about a US federal law

Clewza313 5y ago

Well funded special interests don't operate in a vacuum. Amazon sees the way the wind is blowing, the cost in firing people who are smoking weed recreationally outside work hours, and the profit to be made if they do start selling it, so why not support it?

vmception 5y ago
Right, occasionally the people influence special interests which can be seen here The Princeton study is pretty clear that the special interests are typically operating in their own vacuum that is way more effective They break down the types of special interests too. Broad population ones are no different than populist movements with no effectiveness

wutbrodo 5y ago

Amazon claims that this is because state laws have been changing, and even if you don't take them at their word, it seems pretty straightforward. Why would they want to get involved in shifting this particular norm? Why didn't they do it before a huge chunk of the country legalized it at the state level? It just doesn't seem like an especially relevant analysis of this event.

cies 5y ago
> Why would they want to get involved in shifting this particular norm? Indeed they dont. They just want to benefit (instead of being harmed) by the shift. Same we see with "rainbow" colored logos on big corps and big corps supporting "racial equality": they only do so once the norm has largely shifted. Big corps dont push for social change unless they get better from it (i.e.: makes them look good).