A fascinating FT Weekend interview of Jagdish Bhagwati:
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/f3a22bc8-c3db-11e3-a8e0-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2zNZFds5tProfile of Tatiana Maslany (ORPHAN BLACK rocks !!!)
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/20/arts/television/tatiana-maslany-plays-many-characters-in-orphan-black.html
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Democracy vs. Oligarchy
Interesting new study:
Testing Theories of American
Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens
by
Martin Gilens (Princeton
University) and Benjamin I. Page (Northwestern University)
forthcoming (Fall
2014) in Perspectives on Politics
Abstract
Each of four theoretical
traditions in the study of American politics – which can be characterized as
theories of Majoritarian Electoral Democracy, Economic Elite Domination, and
two types of interest group pluralism, Majoritarian Pluralism and Biased Pluralism
– offers different predictions about which sets of actors have how much
influence over public policy: average citizens; economic elites; and organized
interest groups, mass-based or business-oriented.
A great deal of empirical
research speaks to the policy influence of one or another set of actors, but
until recently it has not been possible to test these contrasting theoretical
predictions against each other within a single statistical model. This paper
reports on an effort to do so, using a unique data set that includes measures
of the key variables for 1,779 policy issues.
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.
Summary of the study from the BBC: