Oligarchy in the United States
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6324682 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jeffrey A Winters (Northwestern University), Benjamin I Page (0000-0002-0889-0015, Northwestern University) |
| Year | 2009 |
| Volume | 7 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 731-751 |
| Publication date | 2009-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Perspectives on Politics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1537-5927 • E-ISSN: 1541-0986 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s1537592709991770 |
| OpenAlex | W2074340474 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 137 |
| References cited | 78 |
We explore the possibility that the US political system can usefully be characterized as oligarchic. Using a material-based definition drawn from Aristotle, we argue that oligarchy is not inconsistent with democracy; that oligarchs need not occupy formal office or conspire together or even engage extensively in politics in order to prevail; that great wealth can provide both the resources and the motivation to exert potent political influence. Data on the US distributions of income and wealth are used to construct several Material Power Indices, which suggest that the wealthiest Americans may exert vastly greater political influence than average citizens and that a very small group of the wealthiest (perhaps the top tenth of 1 percent) may have sufficient power to dominate policy in certain key areas. A brief review of the literature suggests possible mechanisms by which such influence could occur, through lobbying, the electoral process, opinion shaping, and the US Constitution itself
Constitution · Construct (python library · Democracy · Economics · Oligarchy · Order (exchange · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Sociology · Economic Theory and Institutions · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Political Influence and Corporate Strategies · Finance
Framing Inequality
The General Will, the Common Good, and a Democracy of Standards
Zombie Ideas
Is this what democracy looks like? (Never mind epistocracy)
Being under the Power of Others
Republicanism and the Future of Democracy
Must Realists Be Pessimists About Democracy? Responding to Epistemic and Oligarchic Challenges
In Defense of (Limited) Oligarchy
US-China relations and the liberal world order
Cultural Evolution
Tired of Politics? On Political Experience and Oligarchic Fatigue
Black coal, thin ice
Remembering the Disease behind the Symptoms – the Oligarchical Causes of Democratic Backsliding
Opinion-policy correspondence in public provision and financing of childcare in Europe
A Tale of two captures
Testing Models of Unequal Representation
Bibliographie générale
Future Publics
Hometown Inequality
Public Support for Campaign Finance Reform
Fossil fascism
Class Politics, American-Style
Whom do you serve? A comparative analysis of congruence between party representatives, voters, and economic elites (2007–2017)
Housing wealth and household carbon emissions
Wealth Inequality and Carbon Emissions in High-income Countries
Simulating Representation
Upper Class Bias and Class Conflict in America
Not Always at the Helm
Fangst av overnasjonale domstoler og privatisering av rettssystemet
Oligarchy in Thailand
Political Inequality is International, Interdisciplinary, and Intersectional
Fractured or Reconfigured? A Review of the Debate on U.S. Corporate Elite Unity
Lordy Me!’ Can donations buy you a British peerage? A study in the link between party political funding and peerage nominations, 2005–2014
Bringing representatives back in
A Discussion of Suzanne Mettler’s Degrees of Inequality
Whose Equality? The Discouraging Politics of American Education (and What We Might Do about It)
Forensic Intelligence and the Deportation Research Clinic
State Adoption of Tax Policy
Perceptions of Corruption, Political Distrust, and the Weakening of Climate Policy
Carbon Emission Performance and Regime Type
The changing governance of welfare
Rise and fall of elites
Elites and American power in an era of anti-elitism
Three General Laws of Politics and Government in America (with Apologies to Sir Isaac Newton)
Political representation in an era of income inequality and post-truth politics
The profits of power
Intra‐party Democracy
AI som intelligens og kommunikation
American Bureaucracy in an Age of Oligarchy
Wealth and Policymaking in the U.S. House of Representatives
Mind the civic empowerment gap
Process over outcome
Viewing equality as a loss
Determinants of the opinion gap between the elites and the public in the United States
How much economic inequality is fair in liberal democracies? The approach of proportional justice
US Social Policy in the 21st Century
Income inequality and opinion expression gap in the American public
Planned misery in paradise
The return of oligarchy? Threats to representative democracy in Latin America
Citizens United , Public Health, and Democracy
Land lotteries, long-term wealth, and political selection
Race and class patterns of income inequality during postrecession periods
Do Citizens Link Attitudes with Preferences? Economic Inequality and Government Spending in the “New Gilded Age”
Attitudes about Paid Parental Leave in the United States
Wealth and preferences for redistribution
Finding inequality in an unlikely place
Executive Non-Divestment, Systemic Corruption, and Democratic Accountability
Legislative agendas during periods of inequality
Who Passes Business’s “Model Bills”? Policy Capacity and Corporate Influence in U.S. State Politics
All the Single Ladies
The hyperopia of wealth
Unequal policy responsiveness in the Netherlands
Varieties of wealth
Sociological Perspectives on AI, Intelligence and Communication
Analyzing Urban Politics
The State from Below
Political Parties, Interest Groups, and Unequal Class Influence in American Policy
Social Context and Economic Biases in Representation
Limits of regulatory responsiveness
Public Opinion and American Democracy
Fear of the Few
The Politics of Speed
Citizen Tax Juries
Crisis, Resources and the State
Politics in the Boardroom
Policy Agendas and Economic Inequality in American Politics
Campaign Finance Laws, Policy Outcomes, and Political Equality in the American States
Responsiveness in an Era of Inequality
Economic Inequality and Public Support for Organized Labor
Economic Segregation and Unequal Policy Responsiveness
Government's Unequal Attentiveness to Citizens' Political Priorities
Polanyi's Revenge
Testing Theories of American Politics
The Great Disconnect
Class Bias in Voter Turnout, Representation, and Income Inequality
Democratic Representation and the Constituency Paradox
Varieties of Obamaism
Relative Policy Support and Coincidental Representation
The American Labor Movement in the Age of Obama
Democracy and the Policy Preferences of Wealthy Americans
The governmental process
Policy-planning organizations
Politics and markets
Reporters and officials
The ruling class
Capitalists against Markets
Power
The Federalist
The Rational Public
Changes in the Wage Structure and Earnings Inequality
Estimating the Value of Political Connections
Betting on Hitler—The Value of Political Connections in Nazi Germany
Politically Connected Firms
An economic theory of democracy
Mind and Society
Democracy and the Market
Political Parties
The Foreign Policy Disconnect
Elites in American History
When the Press Fails
Peter Bachrach and Morton S. Baratz. 1962. “Two Faces of Power.” American Political Science Review 56 (December)
Toward a Theory of Press-State Relations in the United States
Class War
Pareto and Political Theory
Who's Running America
The Logic of Collective Action
Power
Income Inequality in the United States, 1913-1998
Why is There so Little Money in U.S. Politics
Too Big to Bail
Too Big to Bail
Power Resources Approach vs. Action and Conflict
The American Supreme Court
Who Gets What from Government
Public Expenditures, Taxes, and the Distribution of Income
Creating the Welfare State
The Sound of Money
Stability in Competition
The External Control of Organizations. A Resource Dependence Perspective
Voice and Equality
Understanding the Diverging Trajectories of the United States and Western Europe
The Rise and Fall of Elites
American Democracy in an Age of Rising Inequality
Who Influences U.S. Foreign Policy
Golden Rule
The Oligarchy Muddle
The Study of Elites
The Market as Prison
Inequality and Democratic Responsiveness
Beyond the Three Faces of Power
Death by a Thousand Cuts
A Critical Assessment of the New Elite Paradigm
What Moves Public Opinion
Misperceptions, the Media, and the Iraq War
Inequality and American Democracy
Two Faces of Power
The Effects of Campaign Spending in Congressional Elections
A Critique of the Ruling Elite Model
Effects of Public Opinion on Policy
"The "Uncensored War
The Iron Law of What Again? Conceptualizing Oligarchy Across Organizational Forms
| Unique citing works | 137 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 8,56 |
| Citation span | 2010 - 2026 (17) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | Yes |
| Citation types | Neutral: 137 |