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.'"

Comments

Re:Heading off the Republic Pedants

[mwvdlee]

One cannot argue that in today's United States we have liberty - cutting down a tree requires a permit, even when there are no safety considerations. Growing various plants is illegal. Operating a hair-cutting business without the proper permits is illegal. The list goes on...

Is that because government is evil or because people in general are evil?
If people would only ever cut down the few trees they actually need, you'd still have the liberty. But there will always be people who think that if cutting a tree for your own house is okay, then cutting down all trees so everybody has to pay you for wood is equally okay.
Laws exists not for the vast majority that would not abuse freedoms, they exist to protect that vast majority from the minority that would.