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Created page with "But other ideas will have to come from the community itself. An important one will be how much influence money will buy in a new democracy. According to [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Free_and_Equal/Hl7QEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 Chandler], in our present society, almost all policy that gets enacted only does so because the wealthy are behind it. In other words, if a policy is backed by ordinary people but not the wealthy, it <i>is not</i> enacted. If it is backed by t..." |
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{{Main|Economic systems}} |
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But other ideas will have to come from the [[community]] itself. An important one will be how much influence money will buy in a new democracy. According to [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Free_and_Equal/Hl7QEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 Chandler], in our present society, almost all policy that gets enacted only does so because the wealthy are behind it. In other words, if a policy is backed by ordinary people but not the wealthy, it <i>is not</i> enacted. If it is backed by the wealthy and not ordinary people, it <i>is</i> enacted. A number of academic studies support this conclusion: |
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An important problem in contemporary society is how much influence wealth has and, particularly, its corrupting influence on democracy. According to the Rawlsian political philosopher Daniel Chandler, in his recent book [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Free_and_Equal/Hl7QEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 Free and Equal], almost all policy that gets enacted only does so because the wealthy are behind it. In other words, if a policy is backed by ordinary people but not the wealthy, it <i>is not</i> enacted. If it is backed by the wealthy and not ordinary people, it <i>is</i> enacted. A number of academic studies ([https://faculty.wcas.northwestern.edu/jnd260/cab/CAB2012%20-%20Page1.pdf 1], [https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics/article/testing-theories-of-american-politics-elites-interest-groups-and-average-citizens/62327F513959D0A304D4893B382B992B 2], [https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-polisci-020614-094706 3], [https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/D/bo58174159.html 4], [https://www.vanderbilt.edu/csdi/includes/Working_Paper_5_2017.pdf 5]) support this conclusion. |
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https://faculty.wcas.northwestern.edu/jnd260/cab/CAB2012%20-%20Page1.pdf |
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These papers represent a damning indictment of how political equality of opportunity and outcomes is subverted in the US and most other European democracies. None of this work, however, is particularly new or surprising. We've known about the corrupting influence of money in politics for the entirety of civilized history. Democracies, particularly the US, has had a very hard time dealing with it. The relatively recent [[wikipedia:Citizens United v. FEC|Citizens United]] Supreme Court ruling made the situation worse by allowing for unlimited amounts of campaign contributions under the guise of free speech (ie money is speech). |
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https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics/article/testing-theories-of-american-politics-elites-interest-groups-and-average-citizens/62327F513959D0A304D4893B382B992B |
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https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-polisci-020614-094706 |
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https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/D/bo58174159.html |
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https://www.vanderbilt.edu/csdi/includes/Working_Paper_5_2017.pdf |
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Latest revision as of 15:06, 1 October 2024
Main article: Economic systems
An important problem in contemporary society is how much influence wealth has and, particularly, its corrupting influence on democracy. According to the Rawlsian political philosopher Daniel Chandler, in his recent book Free and Equal, almost all policy that gets enacted only does so because the wealthy are behind it. In other words, if a policy is backed by ordinary people but not the wealthy, it is not enacted. If it is backed by the wealthy and not ordinary people, it is enacted. A number of academic studies (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) support this conclusion.
These papers represent a damning indictment of how political equality of opportunity and outcomes is subverted in the US and most other European democracies. None of this work, however, is particularly new or surprising. We've known about the corrupting influence of money in politics for the entirety of civilized history. Democracies, particularly the US, has had a very hard time dealing with it. The relatively recent Citizens United Supreme Court ruling made the situation worse by allowing for unlimited amounts of campaign contributions under the guise of free speech (ie money is speech).
One advantage of a designed social system is that communities will also be designing their economic system in tandem with their political system and thus can do so with the problem of political corruption top of mind.