"The US is a very free country, perhaps uniquely so. It is also, to an unusual extent, dominated by a highly class conscious business sector, so much so that America's leading social philosopher, John Dewey, described politics as 'the shadow cast by business over society.' That is not much of an exaggeration. On the eve of the year 2000 presidential elections, a large majority of the population dismissed it as unrelated to their interests and concerns, regarding it as a game played by wealthy contributors and the Public Relations industry, which trains candidates to focus on 'values' and 'personal qualities,' and to keep away from issues. There are good reasons for that. On many important issues, there is a considerable gap between an elite consensus and popular opinion, as polls reveal. Voting is heavily skewed towards the more wealthy. Years ago it was shown by leading political scientists that non-voters -- about half the population -- have a socioeconomic profile rather like those who vote for labor- based and social democratic parties in Europe, but feel that they are not represented in the US. In 2004, more appears to be at stake and interest is greater than in 2000, but there is a continuation of the long process of disengagement, mainly on the part of poor and working class Americans. The Harvard University project that monitors electoral politics currently reports that 'the turnout gap between the top and bottom fourth by income is by far the largest among western democracies and has been widening.' There are some differences between the candidates, but they are not very far-reaching, particularly in foreign affairs. In a system of immense power, however, slight differences can translate into outcomes of considerable significance, both in foreign affairs and on domestic issues."
On Mar 12, 2012, at 11:40 AM, Doug Henwood wrote:
>
> On Mar 12, 2012, at 12:33 PM, Carl G. Estabrook wrote:
>
>> Exactly. E.g., in the Reagan 'landslide,' three out of four
>> eligible voters didn't vote for him. --CGE
>
> Nonvoters are not all that different from voters, according to a
> 2010 survey from Pew. More liberal, but also more satisfied with
> things in the U.S., and with a higher approval rating for Obama.
> Also more likely to support Obamacare than voters. They're just
> detached.
>
> http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1786/who-are-nonvoters-less-republican-educated-younger
>
> There's really no untapped vein of significant radical opinion out
> there, I'm afraid.
>
> Doug
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