{"id":17136,"date":"2016-01-31T09:08:21","date_gmt":"2016-01-31T14:08:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=17136"},"modified":"2016-01-31T09:08:21","modified_gmt":"2016-01-31T14:08:21","slug":"deep-state-inside-washingtons-shadowy-power-elite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=17136","title":{"rendered":"Deep State: Inside Washington’s Shadowy Power Elite"},"content":{"rendered":"

Deep State: Inside Washington’s Shadowy Power Elite<\/a><\/h3>\n
This \u201cstate within a state<\/a>\u201d hides \u201cmostly in plain sight, and its operators mainly act in the light of day,\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0says Lofgren, and yet the \u201cDeep State does not consist of the entire government.\u201d<\/div>\n
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\u201cOur plutocracy, whether the hedge fund managers in Greenwich, Connecticut, or the Internet moguls in Palo Alto, now lives like the British did in colonial India: ruling the place but not of it.<\/strong>\u00a0If one can afford private security, public safety is of no concern; to the person fortunate enough to own a Gulfstream jet, crumbling bridges cause less apprehension, and viable public transportation doesn\u2019t even compute. With private doctors on call and a chartered plane to get to the Mayo Clinic, why worry about Medicare?\u201d<\/div>\n

Mike Lofgren,\u00a0The Deep State: The Fall of the Constitution and the Rise of a Shadow Government<\/em><\/p>\n

“Our analyses suggest that majorities of the American public actually have little influence over the policies our government adopts. Americans do enjoy many features central to democratic governance, such as regular elections, freedom of speech and association, and a widespread (if still contested) franchise.<\/p>\n

But we believe that if policymaking is dominated by powerful business organizations and a small number of affluent Americans, then America\u2019s claims to being a democratic society are seriously threatened<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

Martin Gilens and Benjamin I. Page,\u00a0Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens<\/a><\/em>, Princeton 2014.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n