underscorex:

elisaddiq:

terarroni:

Despite the seemingly strong empirical support in previous studies for theories of majoritarian democracy, our analyses suggest that majorities of the American public actually have little influence over the policies our government adopts. Americans do enjoy many features central to democratic governance, such as regular elections, freedom of speech and association, and a widespread (if still contested) franchise. But 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.

While this may be a big “duh” to a lot of U.S. citizens, a recent study which has been made open for public viewing concludes that the United States’ system of government is closer to that of a (corporate) oligarchy than it is a democracy. That is to say that power is vested within a small group of people, as opposed to the majority.

Historically speaking, oligarchies generally devolve into tyrannical states due to the concentration of power (usually based on class) with a smaller group of people who generally do not agree with the interests or preferences of the majority; these types of frictions lead to oppression by making some people more “equal” than others, as demonstrated in George Orwell’s Animal Farm, essentially giving people certain rights, but allowing those rights more freely to certain groups.

I remember in the 6th grade when we were learning about different types of governments and we got to oligarchy I said to the teacher “Oh so that’s what America is right?” and he looked at me like i was crazy and said “No Elijah, America is a democracy because the citizens also have power” and I said “what power?” and he said “We can vote” and I was kind of quite for a little bit because i thought he was gonna say something else and I was like “Is that it?” and he just went on to the next lesson

C. Wright Mills was right.

Study Finds that the United States is an Oligarchy, not a Democracy