The United States: Plutocracy or a Kleptocracy? Plutocracy is rule by the wealthy or power provided by wealth. In a plutocracy, the degree of economic inequality is high (the US has the highest income inequality in the world) while the level of social mobility is low. Kevin Phillips, author and political strategist to U.S. President Richard Nixon, argues that the United States is a plutocracy in which there is a "fusion of money and government."
Modern political The usage of plutocracy is a reference to a disproportionate influence the wealthy are said to have on political process in contemporary society, including campaign contributions and bribes and refusing to support the government financially by refusing to pay taxes, threatening to move profitable industries elsewhere, and so on (66% of business in the US pays little or no tax). It can also be exerted by the owners and ad buyers of media properties which can shape public perception of political issues. Recent examples include Rupert Murdoch's News Corp's alleged political agendas in Australia, the UK [2] and the United States or the oil industry oligarchy, and billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife, which may back right-leaning political action committees (PACs), as well as billionaire George Soros' efforts to influence US politics by backing left-leaning PACs. Lobbying Most western democracies permit partisan organizations to raise funds for politicians, and it is well-known that political parties frequently accept significant donations from various individuals (either directly or through corporate institutions). Ostensibly this should have no effect on the legislative decisions of elected representatives; however it would be unlikely that politicians are not influenced by these contributions. Some describe these donations as bribes, although legally they are not, in essence that's what they are, as something is expected in return for this generosity In the United States, campaign finance reform efforts seek to ameliorate this situation. However, campaign finance reform must successfully challenge officials who are beneficiaries of the system which allows this dynamic in the first place, so it is unlikely that reforms will ever be made Forms of control A Plutocracy is a government controlled by a minuscule proportion of extremely wealthy individuals found in most societies. In many forms of government, those in power benefit financially, sometimes enough to belong to the aforementioned wealthy class (how many US politicians are millionaires and even billionaires?). Classically, a plutocracy was an oligarchy, which is to say a government controlled by the wealthy few. Usually this meant that these ‘plutocrats’ controlled the executive, legislative and judicial aspects of government, the armed forces, and most of the natural resources. To a certain degree, there are still some situations in which private corporations and wealthy individuals may exert such strong influence on governments, that the effect can arguably be compared to a plutocracy. Kleptocracy If there are no forms of control within the society, the plutocracy can easily collapse into a kleptocracy, "reign of thieves", where the power-holders attempt to confiscate as much public funds as possible as their private property. A kleptocratic state is usually thoroughly corrupt, has very little production and its economy is unstable. Many failed states represent kleptocracies. Any objective study of contemporary American political life must conclude the the US is well on it's way to fitting the criteria of a Kleptocracy, while certainly having abandoned all pretexts of a being a functioning democracy --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
