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weex / Problems

A place to describe and prove out societal problems.
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Voting in the US has little effect on policy #11

Open weex opened 3 years ago

weex commented 3 years ago

https://scholar.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/mgilens/files/gilens_and_page_2014_-testing_theories_of_american_politics.doc.pdf showed that public opinion has little effect on public policy. This is largely due to lobbying and voting transparency.

weex commented 1 year ago

While some scholars, including Martin Gilens, have argued that the preferences of ordinary citizens have little influence on policymaking, others have challenged this view and suggested that the relationship between public opinion and policy outcomes is more complex.

Gilens' argument is based on his analysis of survey data and policy outcomes over several decades, in which he found that the preferences of the wealthiest Americans were more strongly correlated with policy outcomes than the preferences of the average citizen. He argues that this reflects the influence of wealthy interest groups and the role of money in politics, which can distort the democratic process and limit the ability of ordinary citizens to influence policy.

However, other scholars have challenged Gilens' conclusions, arguing that his analysis may overstate the influence of the wealthy and overlook the role of other factors, such as institutional constraints, political parties, and the media. They also suggest that the relationship between public opinion and policy outcomes is complex and multifaceted, with different factors influencing policymaking in different ways.

To research: whether opposing arguments are supported by data