The Investment Theory of Parties
Thomas Ferguson‘s Investment Theory of Parties studies in details what is obvious to well informed people, that in most western democracies the large interest groups set the agenda of the government and the will or opinion of the people is highly irrelevant.
The article “The Power of the Rich ” by William K. Tabb, explains it clearly:
Political parties need votes, but they are not simply vote maximizers. Parties are better understood as blocs of investors that back candidates who represent their interests. Public policy is shaped by the interplay and jockeying of these blocs, since most voters are unorganized, often minimally informed, hostile to the political process, and so prone to emotional appeals on issues of only glancing interest to the investor class. Public opinion on issues of interest to this investor class has weak influence on outcomes.
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As Thomas Ferguson writes, “on issues affecting the vital interests that major investors have in common, no party competition will take place.”8 It is not that the issues of interest to these investors will be the only ones discussed. The point is for the candidate favoring the vital interests of the investors to win. This leads to candidates giving prominence to all manner of issues, from gay marriage to abortion, which may not be of central concern to investors but are calculated to ensure victory, and to mud-slinging and negative advertising based on false and malicious claims. The point is winning so that investor objectives can be legislated. The big campaign givers are those whose wealth depends on the government, such as military contractors, or those who want to change government regulations, like the securities and energy sectors, as well as everyone from tobacco to those on the receiving end of asbestos lawsuits. Some individual contributors are driven by ideology.
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Let me conclude by putting some of these aspects together. The investor theory is clear enough in its predictions that issues of interest to the majority of citizens will be ignored if the rich contributor class does not want them considered. Likewise, issues of interest to the rich will be put forward and reinforced in media discussion even though they lack popular support. The legislation that results, as shown in the case of tax policy in the foregoing discussion, seems to confirm a correlation between investments and government policies favoring investors.
bibliography:
Golden Rule: The Investment Theory of Parties and the Logic of Money Driven Politics