A recent study of the University of Princeton came to a stunning result: The US is no longer a democracy, because political decisions don’t serve the needs of citizens, but rather the interests of a small economic elite.
The findings of the recent Princeton research study showed that economic elites and organized groups have a substantial influence on the policy of the US government while groups representing the interests of the mass of Americans as well as ordinary citizens have little or no influence on politics.
The main conclusion of the study is that the US society is far from being a democratic one as the majority of Americans actually have little opportunity to influence policies pursued by the US government.
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“When a majority of citizens disagrees with economic elites and/or with organized interests, they generally lose. Moreover, because of the strong status quo bias built into the US political system, even when fairly large majorities of Americans favor policy change, they generally do not get it,” the study said.
The findings are also important in terms of foreign policy. In case of military conflicts or political confrontation with Russia the US government does not represent the interests of the American people, but those of the business and political elites.
Many Western politicians and experts argue that those who criticize US policy betray one of the oldest and most vibrant democracies in the world, the German magazine “Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten” wrote.
However, when one of the most respected and elite US universities comes to such a stunning conclusion, it is reason to rethink the existing conceptions and don’t take “Western democratic values” for granted.
“Americans do enjoy many features central to democratic governance, such as regular elections, freedom of speech and association and a widespread (if still contested) franchise. But we believe that if policymaking is dominated by powerful business organizations and a small number of affluent Americans, then America's claims to being a democratic society are seriously threatened,” the Princeton research concluded.
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