Have you ever felt like the federal government isn’t listening to us?  Well, you don’t have to feel that you’re being paranoid anymore.  A study from Princeton University entitled “Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups and Average Citizens” vindicates all those who have felt this way.  The study reviewed policy that included measures of key variables for 1,779 policy issues between 1981 and 2002 in which a national survey of the general public asked a favor/oppose question about a proposed policy change.  The study chose these cases specifically to see the public’s influence on policy.  What did they find?  The study found:

“…the preferences of the average American appear to have only a minuscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy.” ~ Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens Page 12.

The study found that on average there is a 30% chance of something being passed all the time, whether the average American wants it or doesn’t want it.  So, congress isn’t listening to Americans, right?  Well, not to “average” American’s or the bottom 90% of Americans at least.  However, if you are the moneyed interests: economic elites, business interests or organizations that can hire lobbyists, well, that changes everything.  The study found that in those cases when these moneyed interests don’t want something passed or if they do want something passed the government is much more likely to respond to their desires and bend to their will. 

So, why do the business interests do this?  Well, the Sunlight Foundation found that the 200 most politically active companies spent on average 5.8 billion dollars influencing the government.  Those same companies got 4.4 TRILLION in taxpayer support.  And, that’s only the top 200 companies.  That’s not counting every other special interest, trade union, trade association or the many billionaires out there. 

So, why is our government so bad at looking out for the common man?  Well, as the cost of winning elections explodes, politicians of both political parties become ever more dependent on the tiny slice of the population who can bankroll their campaigns.  To win a Senate seat in 2014, candidates had to raise $14,351 every single day.  Just .05% of Americans donate more than $10,000 in any election, so it’s perfectly clear who candidates will turn to first, and who they’re indebted to when they win.  In return for campaign donations, elected officials pass laws that are good for their mega-donors, and bad for the rest of us.  In fact, our elected officials spend 30-70% of their time in office fundraising for the next election. When they’re not fundraising, they have no choice but to make sure the laws they pass keep their major donors happy — or they won’t be able to run in the next election. 

So, for those who have been feeling like there isn’t much point in taking part in national politics, you can feel vindicated for your apathy.  Below is an excellent video created by Represent.us that outlines, in an easy little video, the information outlined in this article, give it a watch: