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OnyxCollie

(9,958 posts)
25. The public hasn't mattered for over a hundred years.
Mon Mar 25, 2013, 04:42 PM
Mar 2013

Max Weber said this nearly a century ago:

Democratic mass parties are bureaucratically organized under the leadership of party officials, professional party and trade union secretaries, etc.... Of course, one must remember that the term 'democratization' can be misleading. The demos itself, in the sense of an inarticulate mass, never 'governs' larger associations; rather it is governed, and its existence only changes the way in which the executive leaders are selected and the measure of influence which the demos, or better, which social circles from its midst are able to exert upon the content and the direction of administration activities by supplementing what is called 'public opinion.' 'Democratization,' in the sense here intended, does not necessarily mean an increasingly active share of the governed in the authority of the social structure. This may be the result of democratization, but it is not necessarily the case.... The most decisive thing here- and indeed it is rather exclusively so- is the leveling of the governed in opposition to the ruling and bureaucratically articulated groups, which in turn may occupy a quite autocratic position, both in fact and form.

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Dodd Frank was supposed to end it so I don't know what this for show vote is supposed to accomplish. dkf Mar 2013 #1
I think that what is happening in Cyprus is a warning to the off-shore JDPriestly Mar 2013 #16
Dodd Frank Veilex Mar 2013 #27
Well that is how they sold it... dkf Mar 2013 #28
Never buy the hype... Veilex Mar 2013 #31
Yeah like calling it the "affordable care act". Puhleeze. dkf Mar 2013 #32
Indeed. Reality is... Veilex Mar 2013 #33
If it's not binding what's the sense? Don't understand the ceremony. Time and tax dollars wasted judesedit Mar 2013 #2
Think of it as a litmus test... Veilex Mar 2013 #34
Condidering who's dissing it, it must have some good in it. Scuba Mar 2013 #3
. UnrepentantLiberal Mar 2013 #4
It's a baby step... ReRe Mar 2013 #5
It does seem like an exercise in futility... dotymed Mar 2013 #13
It's a declaration of intent and that is the first step. JDPriestly Mar 2013 #17
You're probably right, JD... ReRe Mar 2013 #19
Something to placate Sen. Warren. OnyxCollie Mar 2013 #14
That's letting the free market win... setab Mar 2013 #6
Welcome to DU. UnrepentantLiberal Mar 2013 #7
Might I suggest the solution be as follows: Volaris Mar 2013 #10
Without a guaranteed profit, the big banks may have to *GASP* start caring about customers! AndyA Mar 2013 #8
Right...you realize... setab Mar 2013 #9
I think that's a stretch on your part AndyA Mar 2013 #12
What's free market? setab Mar 2013 #15
Excellent post! JDPriestly Mar 2013 #18
The problem is the "subsidy" is not a line item on a budget BlueStreak Mar 2013 #11
Did investment banking fail Cyprus? dkf Mar 2013 #20
I don't think any expert in the field denies that the 2008 meltdown happened BlueStreak Mar 2013 #22
Absolutely! ReRe Mar 2013 #21
EXACTLY as Byron Dorgan predicted it BlueStreak Mar 2013 #23
Do you remember Representative Henry Gonzalez... ReRe Mar 2013 #24
The public hasn't mattered for over a hundred years. OnyxCollie Mar 2013 #25
He was ahead of his time... ReRe Mar 2013 #26
If Warren is encouraged... iandhr Mar 2013 #29
I like what she's saying, BUT... blkmusclmachine Mar 2013 #30
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