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Yet there is a group that reliably loses in the United States: average citizens. From "Testing Theories of American Politics" (Gilens & Page 2014)[1]: "These r
by GolfPopper 4mo ago
Yet there is a group that reliably loses in the United States: average citizens. From "Testing Theories of American Politics" (Gilens & Page 2014)[1]:
"These results suggest that reality is best captured by
mixed theories in which both individual economic elites
and organized interest groups (including corporations,
largely owned and controlled by wealthy elites) play
a substantial part in affecting public policy, but the
general public has little or no independent influence."
1. https://archive.org/details/gilens_and_page_2014_-testing_theories_of_american_politics.doc https://archive.org/details/gilens_and_page_2014_-testing_th...
- SpicyLemonZest 4mo agoI guess this result doesn't seem surprising to me? A majority of the general public can't even identify how long Senate terms are (https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/11/07/what-americans-know-about-their-government/ https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/11/07/what-amer...); they simply don't have the required knowledge to meaningfully influence politics without mediation through interest groups. (Anecdotally, it’s a truism in political circles that you will drive yourself insane trying to understand the median voter’s theories of politics.)
- rudolftheone 4mo ago[flagged]