US is an oligarchy, not a democracy (2014)

> The US, in other words, is basically similar to Russia or most other dubious 'electoral' 'democratic' countries. We weren't formerly, but we clearly are now. These people never went to Russia.

Here is the underlying study: https://scholar.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/mgilens/fi.... The actual conclusion of the study is rather different than the headline. To understand why you really need to break down the methodology and conclusions. First, the surveys of "public preference" are based not on voters, but general surveys. The authors studied: > 1,779 instances between 1981 and 2002 in which a national survey of the general public asked a favor/ oppose question about a proposed policy change. Because…

That's not what the paper said. This is a duplicate of a story posted yesterday, with a link to the actual source: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7599085 I flagged this story. About the topic in general, 'dang wrote: All: This is one of those subjects that is fine for HN if the discussion remains substantive and civil, and otherwise deserves to be flagged. If you comment in this thread, please make sure your comment is substantive and on-topic. If the original discussion I linked…

I’ve lived in a few countries. My take is: An oligarchy where leaders frequently change based mostly on merit, with a social ladder accessible to anyone, is as close as you get to social harmony. As long as everyone has a shot, society is generally happy. (Note that a functioning economy is also needed for this.) Democracy is mostly a safeguard to kick out the Napoleons before it’s too late. Also, if you have strong local politics (like in the…