"Despite the seemingly strong empirical support in previous studies for theories of majoritarian democracy, our analyses suggest that majorities of the American public actually have little influence over the policies our government adopts. Americans do enjoy many features central to democratic governance, such as regular elections, freedom of speech and association, and a widespread (if still contested) franchise. But we believe that if policymaking is dominated by powerful business organizations and a small number of affluent Americans, then America’s claims to being a democratic society are seriously threatened." http://scholar.princeton.edu/sites/...ng_theories_of_american_politics.doc.pdf page 576f http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/princeton-experts-say-us-no-longer-democracy
Martin Gilens is Professor of Politics at Princeton University (mgilens@princeton.edu) Phone: 609-258-2129 Fax: 609-258-1110 Department of Politics, 130 Corwin Hall Princeton, NJ 08544-1012213, USA Robertson Hall (office) http://scholar.princeton.edu/mgilens/home Benjamin I. Page is Gordon S. Fulcher Professor of Decision Making at Northwestern University (b-page@northwestern.edu). Phone: 847-491-2638 Office: Scott Hall 308 University Place, Evanston, IL 60208, USA http://www.polisci.northwestern.edu/people/core-faculty/benjamin-page.html
