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Bel Shazar posted:If you're an adult American you're responsible for the American government regardless of whether or not you voted for it. It feels to me that nuanced discussion around this point is an effort in deflecting that responsibility. I don't think this is correct based on the conclusions of Martin Gilens and Benjamin Page's famous study on policy preferences vs policy outcomes. Here's a couple key quotes: quote:Multivariate analysis indicates that economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little or no independent influence. The results provide substantial support for theories of Economic Elite Domination and for theories of Biased Pluralism, but not for theories of Majoritarian Electoral Democracy or Majoritarian Pluralism. quote:By directly pitting the predictions of ideal-type theories against each other within a single statistical model (using a unique data set that includes imperfect but useful measures of the key independent variables for nearly two thousand policy issues), we have been able to produce some striking findings. One is the nearly total failure of “median voter” and other Majoritarian Electoral Democracy theories. 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. I think the situation we find ourselves in is in fact the exact opposite of what you state here. If you're an average adult American you have no control whatsoever over the American government. It feels to me that the nuanced discussion around just how much responsibility the average voter bears is an effort in deflection from this reality.
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Feb 14, 2024 18:54
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| # ¿ May 12, 2024 01:11 |
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