## Democracy in the U.S.

#### The U.S. is a flawed democracy where economic elites hold disproportionate power



*   [EIU Index 18](http://www.eiu.com/topic/democracy-index)
    *   America’s position among other nations -- it doesn’t even make the top ten
    *   [Some reasons for this](https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/01/11/united-states-doesnt-even-make-top-20-global-democracy-index):
        *   _“Most of the major policy actions in 2018—including the escalation of the trade war with China; diplomatic engagement with North Korea; and extensive deregulation of the energy, mining, and automotive industries—have not required congressional approval. Moreover, [President Donald] Trump has repeatedly called into question the independence and competence of the U.S. judicial system with regard to the ongoing federal investigation, led by Robert Mueller, into potential ties between Mr. Trump's presidential campaign and Russia, and various courts' efforts to block some of his policy orders, particularly regarding immigration. Although we expect the U.S. system of checks and balances to remain intact, this internal conflict risks further undermining public confidence in institutions. As a result, the score for political culture declined in the 2018 index.”_
*   [Gilens and Page 14](https://scholar.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/mgilens/files/gilens_and_page_2014_-testing_theories_of_american_politics.doc.pdf)
    *   The power of economic elites distorts democracy within the U.S.
    *   _“The preferences of economic elites (as measured by our proxy, the preferences of ‘affluent’ citizens) have** far more independent impact **upon** policy change** than the preferences of average citizens do.”_
    *   _“This does not mean that ordinary citizens always lose out; they fairly often get the policies they favor, but only because those policies happen also to be **preferred by the economically-elite citizens** who wield the **actual influence**.”_
    *   Little policy change occurs when large amounts of average voters favor it. In comparison, when economic elites favor policy change, that change is more frequent.
    
    ![](https://github.com/NB419/source-library/blob/master/images/democracy%201.PNG?raw=true)
