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public actually have little influence over the policies our government adopts." The study analyzed

nearly 1,800 policies enacted by the US government between 1981 and 2002 and compared them

to the expressed preferences of the American public as opposed to wealthy Americans and large

special interest groups (Boren, 2014). It found that wealthy individuals and organizations

representing business interests have substantial political influence, while average citizens and

mass-based interest groups have little to none. The study did concede that "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."

Gilens and Page do not characterize the US as an "oligarchy" per se; however, they do

apply the concept of "civil oligarchy" as used by Jeffrey Winters with respect to the US. Winters

has posited a comparative theory of "oligarchy" in which the wealthiest citizens – even in a "civil

oligarchy" like the United States – dominate policy concerning crucial issues of wealth- and

income-protection. (Gilens & Page, 2014, p. 6)

Gilens says that average citizens only get what they want if wealthy Americans and

business-oriented interest groups also want it; and that when a policy favored by the majority of

the American public is implemented, it is usually because the economic elites did not oppose it

(Prokop, 2014). Other studies have questioned the Page and Gilens study (Bashir; Enns, 2015).

In a 2015 interview, former President Jimmy Carter stated that the United States is now

"an oligarchy with unlimited political bribery", due to the Citizens United ruling, which effectively

removed limits on donations to political candidates. (Kreps, 2015)

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