Four Theoretical Traditions of American Politics

Testing Theories of American Politics
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Institution
Testing Theories of American Politics
Gilens and Page (2014) in their study of American politics test the four theoretical traditions that predict how different actors influence public policy. The theories are Majoritarian Electrical Democracy, Economic Elite domination, Majoritarian Pluralism, and Biased Pluralism. The various actors include average citizens, economic elites, and mass-based or business-oriented organized interest groups. Gilens and Page employed a single statistical model to test the different theories against each other. The findings of their research indicate that the U.S. government policy is substantially influenced by economic elites and organized groups representing business interests, while there is little or no independent influence from average citizens and mass-based groups.
The majoritarian electoral democracy attributes U.S. government policies mainly to the united will of citizens in a democratic state. The economic elite domination suggests that individuals with substantial economic resources dominate U.S policymaking. Majoritarian pluralism attributes U.S. government policies to popular majorities of “factions” that more or less represent the needs and interests of all citizens. Biased pluralism argues public policies tend to favor corporations and associations businesses and professionals (Gilens & Page, 2014).
To test theor...