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Thursday, Apr. 15, 2021

Have scholars found that aspects of US governance share characteristics of an oligarchy?

Lisa Freedland, Gigafact
yes

Some scholars have observed that aspects of U.S. politics and governance operate like an oligarchy, a power structure in which a few elites govern society for their personal benefit, rather than in the interests of society as a whole.

A 2014 Cambridge University Press study analyzed a set of 1,779 proposed American public policy changes between 1981 and 2002. It found that general public opinion on an issue had little influence on the likelihood of Congress passing a given law. Congressional votes, however, were significantly reflective of the known policy preferences of the “economic elite.”

At the Supreme Court, a phenomenon dubbed the “white-collar paradox” has been observed among conservative justices who rarely rule against the government in favor of poorer defendants. They are far more likely to do so in favor of wealthier defendants.

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