Democracy in America? Get Real!

A 2014 Cambridge University study analyzed 1,779 policy issues passed in the federal government in order to analyze the state of Democracy in America. Here's what they said: "What do our findings say about democracy in America? They certainly constitute troubling news for advocates of "Populistic" democracy, who want governments to respond exclusively to the policy preferences of their citizens. In the United States, our findings indicate, the majority does not rule in any meaningful way. In fact, when a majority of citizens disagrees with the elites or with organized interests, they almost always lose. Moreover, even when fairly large majorities of Americans favor policy change, they generally do not get it. Our analyses suggest that majorities of the American public actually have little influence over government, even at the state level. Policymaking is dominated exclusively by powerful business organizations and a small number of affluent individuals. By definition, Americans live in an Oligarchy rather than a Democracy."