First, let's start with the article, and a few choice quotes:
http://www.policymic.com/articles/87719/princeton-concludes-what-kind-of-government-america-really-has-and-it-s-not-a-democracy "A new scientific study from Princeton researchers Martin Gilens and Benjamin I. Page has finally put some science behind the recently popular argument that the
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But in that case, maybe we should support the Tea Party. They are experts at destroying the livelihood of the people who can least afford it...
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It turns out, in fact, that the preferences of average citizens are positively and fairly highly correlated, across issues, with the preferences of economic elites
So yes, the decisions the government makes represent the elites, they also do a pretty good job of representing the average people. The only two groups that were more strongly correlated than the average voter and the elites are Business interest groups and general interest groups... which I'm a little surprised to find out are considered two different things.
Additionally, as was pointed out:
This evidence indicates that U.S. federal government policy is consistent with majority preferences roughly two-thirds of the time; that public policy changes in the same direction as collective preferences a similar two thirds of the time; that the liberalism or conservatism of citizens is ( ... )
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Second, when you're talking about issues in which there is some debate, you can find mainstream media which is on every side of any given issue. I expect people are more likely to find a source that they tend to agree with than to be swayed by the media.
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The problem is concentrated political power always serves power. It is always possible for the well-connected and wealthy to buy more power than the poor and not-so-well-connected. This is not an argument against wealth; it is an argument against concentrated political power. Concentrated power can always redistribute wealth, but wealth cannot buy power where there is no market for power. If people stopped believing in the religion of power and collectivism then much of the more egregious problems with politics would be solved.
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