Plutocracy: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

Line 13:

The second usage of ''plutocracy'' is a [[pejorative]] reference to the great and undue influence (both positive and negative) the wealthy have on the political process in contemporary society. Positive influence includes campaign contributions and bribes; negative influence includes refusing to support the government financially by refusing to pay taxes, threatening to move profitable industries elsewhere, and so on. It can also be exerted by the owners and [[advertisement|ad]] buyers of media properties which can shape public perception of political issues. Recent examples include [[Rupert Murdoch]]'s [[News Corporation|News Corp]]'s alleged political agendas in Australia, the UK[http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,1810266,00.html] and the United States or [[George Soros]]' efforts to back left-leaning PACs ([[political action committee]]s) and the oil industry [[oligarchy]] which may back right-leaning PACs.

Recently, there have been numerous cases of wealthy individuals and organizations exerting financial pressure on governments to pass favorable legislation. (see: [[Lobbying]]) Most western democracies permit partisan organizations to raise funds for politicians, and it is well-known that political parties frequently accept significant donations from various individuals (either directly or through corporate institutions). Ostensibly this should have no effect on the legislative decisions of elected representatives; however it would be unlikely that no politicians are influenced by these contributions. The more cynical might describe these donations as [[bribes]], although legally they are not. In the [[United States]], [[campaign finance reform]] efforts seek to ameliorate this situation. However, campaign finance reform must successfully challenge officials who are beneficiaries of the system which allows this dynamic in the first place. This has led many reform advocates to suggest taxpayer dollars be used to replace private campaign contributions, these reforms are often called clean money, [[clean elections]] reform as opposed to simply campaign finance reform which does not adress the conflict of interest involved where most or all of the campaign money is from private, often for-profit sources.

==External links==