plutocracy is concentration of political power in hands of wealthy, compatible with variety of governing forms, including but not restricted to those in which opposition has to fear dying if contesting an election...
u.s. system could be characterized as a duopoly (although that may allow for a bit too much difference in what is essentially a modified one-party system)...
and some might point out that u.s. system will respond to well-financed/well-organized interest groups, that social movements of various kinds can sometimes wrest significant concessions from elites, and that elections can, on occasion, have substantive significance...
however, most of the time elections serve to confer legitimacy on whichever elites (or representatives thereof) get the most votes...
as for elite use of repression, well, there's *enforcing* slave laws, committing genocide against indigenous peoples, firing, harrassing, and - yes - even murdering labor leaders, destroying socialist party, interning japanese, witchhunting labor and left, intimidating civil rights & anti-war activists (gee, that stuff pretty much adds up to the whole of u.s. history)...
of course, above examples are generally cited as unfortunate/ particular instances in otherwise democratic past, after all, even some quite harsh critics allow that there have been no readily identifiable coups d'etat, heck, the constitution has never even been suspended (although some of its provisions have clearly been ignored), on other hand, u.s. has actively destroyed democracy throughout its so-called 'sphere of influence'...
for u.s. 'democratic' elites, only that which poses no real threat to their property/power/privilege/position can be allowed, thus, their history of repression has been accompanied by a history of manipulation, hence, importance of elections as symbolic exercises... mh
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