The Average American Has No Influence on Public Policy
Examining how the average American has no influence on policy outcomes compared to the wealthy
A recent study conducted at two top universities concluded that the concept of an American democracy might have become more of a fable than a fact. Martin Gilens and Benjamin Page, from Princeton and Northwestern Universities, respectively, set out to answer the question: ‘Who really rules [in America]?’ Their discoveries challenge some of the most fundamental ideas that we hold about our government:
When the preferences of economic elites and the stands of organized interest groups are controlled for, the preferences of the average American appear to have only a minuscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy.”
After systematically reviewing key variables for over 1,779 policy issues, Gilens and Page found that the impact of the everyday citizen is practically negligible. It was nearly impossible to find cases where the general populace actually had a true impact.
They also explore an important concept that they dub the ‘second face’ of power. This can easily be understood through an experience most American voters have presumably encountered at one point in their lives: the choice between…
