Abstract This paper makes the argument that America has become a government of the elite rather than a government of the people. The paper points to the fact that elections are financed and controlled by interest groups and that the cost of elections makes it prohibitive for anyone but the very elite to run for office. The paper details how these two factors are the primary reasons why America no longer has a government for the people, by the people and of the people but rather has a government that follows the political Golden Rule: He who has the gold rules.
From the Paper ""Every civilization has a government of some sort...The Americans make their state, as they make their armies and corporations, a vast organizational achievement; they speak of 'the business of government'." (Lerner, p. 353) The problem is that government, and the election of so-called "representatives" has become a business. Big business. And, the bigger the business the more influence it has on the elections, on legislation, on the future of the ordinary citizen who does not have the financial influence to participate."
