Why Do most Americans Feel Politically Powerless?...Because They Are
/The Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision gave the wealthy almost unlimited means to influence elections at the expense of the average voter. But the voices of rich individuals and corporations had long drowned out the concerns of most Americans, according to a new study.
In their work “Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens,” Martin Gilens and Benjamin I. Page argue that ordinary Americans have almost no influence on policy. “Not only do ordinary citizens not have uniquely substantial power over policy decisions; they have little or no independent influence on policy at all,” according to the study, due to be released this fall.
Who does affect policy? As might be guessed, it’s the wealthy and powerful interest groups. “Economic elites are estimated to have a quite substantial, highly significant, independent impact on policy.” According to the study, that group is the most influential in terms of getting what it wants out of elected officials. Organized interest groups are also influential.
The data leading to these conclusions was gathered from 1,779 policy cases between 1981 to 2002, so anecdotal evidence would lead one to believe the problem is actually now worse than represented by the study.
