In Reply to: Re: You get what interests are willing to pay for. posted by The Killer Piglet on April 20, 2002 at 10:45:58:
I study voting behavior and know from mine and other's research that only a small fraction of even voters are even minimally informed. Eighty-seven percent of voters vote their party identification with few even knowing the position of their party's candidates. Also nearly 90 percent of the time the candidate spending the most money wins and he is usually the incumbent. It is a chicken and egg conundrum. Interests invest in the incumbents because they win, and thus incumbents spend more and win.I don't know how one measure's openness, but I know the Dutch and English feel more freedom to critize officials and strikes are much more common in France and Italy.
Also no other democracy allows the multiple millions of dollars to be spent on elections. U.S. Representative typically spend more than a million to win their offices. Money is the root of our problem.
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Follow Ups
- I don't think SO! - Norm 04/20/0212:25:34 04/20/02 (5)
- I think you have it backwards... - dado5 09:43:29 04/21/02 (4)
- Political Parties versus interests - Norm 11:04:36 04/21/02 (3)
- Re: Political Parties versus interests - dado5 12:59:46 04/21/02 (2)
- Re: Political Parties versus interests - Norm 16:59:22 04/21/02 (1)
- Re: Political Parties versus interests - dado5 06:50:31 04/22/02 (0)