Studies show that our opinions don’t matter. BBC, 2014: [Princeton & Northwestern] Study: US is an oligarchy, not a democracy

The US is dominated by a rich and powerful elite.

So concludes a recent study, external by Princeton University Prof Martin Gilens and Northwestern University Prof Benjamin I Page.

This is not news, you say.

Perhaps, but the two professors have conducted exhaustive research to try to present data-driven support for this conclusion. Here's how they explain it:

Multivariate analysis indicates that economic elites and organised groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on US government policy, while average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little or no independent influence.

In English: the wealthy few move policy, while the average American has little power.