The Investment Theory of Politics

[PETRUS]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Investment_theory_of_party_competition

How accurate do you think it is? Rate it on a scale of zero to 10 (0=bunk, 10=truth) if you care to.

[unblock]

1. not overly familiar with the specifics, but it sounds largely on target, up to a point.

i think voters ultimately have power at the extremes, in that they won't accept anything, or any change, too ridiculous or too unwarranted. that limits the power of moneyed interests.

however, within those broad bands, yes, big money can pretty much call the tune. part of what obscures this is that big money isn't always a single entity and doesn't always act in concert. that's the real danger of wealth concentration -- it increases the power and coherence of big money, enabling it to be a more effective and dominating political force.

[leveymg]

2. Makes way more sense than Public Choice Theory and other conventional models. Way more.

Last edited Tue Jan 3, 2012, 04:56 PM - Edit history (2)

In view of the Supreme Court's Citizen's United decision, and Obama's key economic advisor appointments, and this Administration's failure to pursue prosecution of major Wall Street figures, I don't see how one could conclude otherwise.

While I wasn't previously familiar with Ferguson (I will surely read some of his work), my own thinking on the subject has become essentially the same as that which appears at the Wiki. Confirmedly so.

On edit, I recommend the following essay that references the work of Ferguson and another critical political economist, William Domhoff, http://monthlyreview.org/2006/07/01/the-power-of-the-rich

[PETRUS]

4. Interesting esssay.

And still relevant, in spite of being a few years old. Thanks for the tip.

I stumbled across Domhoff's work a couple of years ago and found his research and scholarship quite helpful.

[Capitalocracy]

3. Look at my username and guess whether I think that's right. nt