Who Has Power in U.S. Politics

Martin Gilens and Benjamin Page: American democracy is a "democracy by coincidence," where citizens' desires align with elites or interest groups.
Matt Taibbi: The U.S. political establishment has created inequalities in the economy, criminal justice, war, healthcare, and debt forgiveness.

Political analysts diverge on how the American political system operates, with three main theoretical systems: pluralism, hyper-pluralism, and elite theory.

Represented by Alexis de Tocqueville's analysis of early American politics, emphasizing the principle of association.
American politics was marked by diverse organized associations and interest groups vying for influence on government policy.
Pluralism emphasizes that ordinary Americans can freely join groups, and organized interests compete on a level playing field.
No single interest dominates public policy for long because losers collaborate to influence policy.
The variety of interest groups and struggles within categories (e.g., business) support the pluralist argument.

Argues that America transformed from pluralism into an out-of-control system where the government is captured by interest groups.
The government tries to fulfill the wishes of all interest groups, harming the country.
Theodore Lowi termed this interest-group liberalism.
Contradictory government policies (e.g., subsidizing fossil fuels while limiting carbon emissions) show the absence of true competition.
Hyper-pluralism resembles a free-for-all.

Used in this text, elite theorists argue that a small, wealthy class—the power elite—largely gets its way.
The power elite either make decisions or so influence decision-makers that they get their way most of the time.
Elite theory highlights the power of organized business and military interests combined with the affluent strata.
Business interests create interlocking connections to control the political system.
Elites have disproportionate power and seek to continue their dominance.
Noam Chomsky: There has been an ongoing clash between pressure for more freedom and democracy from below and elite control from above throughout American history.

Elite theory suggests government works primarily in the interest of corporations and the wealthy elite.
Corporations and the elite weigh more in government deliberations than the majority of the population.
The aim of democratic engagement should be to balance the power and ensure government serves the broad interests of ordinary Americans.
The aim is for true equality of opportunity, healthcare, education, and an economy that provides a decent life for all regardless of socioeconomic status.

Public policy tilts toward the interests of the elite (first dimension of power).
Rules of the game are tilted to favor elites (second dimension of power).
Ordinary people adopt the viewpoints of the elites against their own interests (third dimension of power).

Michael Parenti: The federal government doles out huge sums in corporate welfare through various means.
Corporate welfare doesn't translate into lower consumer prices; it leads to better dividends for stockholders and higher salaries for upper-level employees.
Ordinary people make up for the lost revenues from corporate tax giveaways.
Robert Reich: Americans spend an estimated $153$ billion in taxes and programs to subsidize McDonald’s and Walmart's low-wage workers.
Warren Buffett noted that he pays a lower tax rate than his secretary.
The tax code has loopholes and deductions benefiting upper-income earners.
The marginal tax rate for capital gains is lower than that for income from wages.

When preferences between the well-off and the poor diverge, government policy bears no relationship to the degree of support or opposition among the poor.
Government policy appears responsive to the well-off and unrelated to the desires of low- and middle-income citizens.
The poor and middle classes get what they want only when the affluent want it as well.
The wealthy have a veto on popular policies if they do not benefit the top 5 or 10 percent of society.

The constitutional system is stacked in favor of elites being able to stop action.
Because the American electoral system runs on money, both major parties tend to be corrupted.
Congress tends to avoid passing legislation that majorities of people want.
The structure and operation of the U.S. Senate is undemocratic.
America’s corporate media system ensures that progressive ideas have a more difficult time getting heard.
The system of organized interest groups is heavily stacked in favor of business groups and the wealthy.
The Supreme Court has a history of primarily “comforting the comfortable and afflicting the afflicted."
Corporations capture federal regulatory agencies.

Elites get poor and middle-class people to fight against the estate tax, support other tax breaks, limitations on unions, free-trade agreements, and cuts to the social safety net.
Thomas Frank: People getting their fundamental interests wrong is what American political life is all about.
Elites