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Study Finds US Is an Oligarchy, Not a Democracy
An anonymous reader writes "Researchers from Princeton University and Northwestern University have concluded, after extensive analysis of 1,779 policy issues, that the U.S. is in fact an oligarchy and not a democracy. What this means is that, although 'Americans do enjoy many features central to democratic governance,' 'majorities of the American public actually have little influence over the policies our government adopts.' Their study (PDF), to be published in Perspectives on Politics, found that 'When the preferences of economic elites and the stands of organized interest groups are controlled for, the preferences of the average American appear to have only a minuscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy.'"
This study defines "rich people" as those making around $146000/year. That's 33 million Americans. It's also around what all of our elected representatives get paid. And it's close to what older workers with graduate or professional degrees make. It shouldn't come as a surprise that that happens to be the income bracket that influences politics more than median income. I don't see why you are "appalled" by it.
I also find it mystifying why you believe that it is different elsewhere. The European governing elites are far more removed from what average Europeans want than American politicians are from average Americans.