Professor At Koch-Funded University Calls For ‘Less Democracy’
[su_right_ad]Dr. Garrett Jones, an economics professor at Virginia’s George Mason University, wants “less democracy.”
Jones says that less democracy and more epistocracy could lead to better governance. Democracy leaves power to the majority while epistocracy allocates power to the knowledgeable. Jones did not imply that democracy should be eliminated, but lessened by 10% for the sake of long term economic growth.
According to Jones, less democracy would lead to better governance because politicians would be inclined to work on long term growth rather than spending to impress constituents during election season. Politicians try to please the public at the expense of neglecting long- term policies because they are elected through a democratic process.
For example, Jones said senators act like voters have short term memories. They make decisions to get reelected rather than spending their whole term focused on long-term growth.
Jones’s remarks are fairly consistent with Koch political activity, which includes advocating for voter ID laws that are designed to drive down voter participation. On his GMU site, the university notes that Jones is not only an academic researcher, but that he has also served as Economic Policy Adviser to Senator Orrin Hatch and as a staff economist to the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress “ – bodies he apparently thinks are too democratic.
[su_fb]
[su_center_ad]
mea_mark March 8th, 2015 at 7:06 pm
Sounds like the rich are getting tired of trying to buy the votes of so many poor and now just want to the buy the votes of a few. Scam all the way.
Foundryman March 8th, 2015 at 8:13 pm
That’s what citizens united was all about. We’re about to see it work to it’s fullest in 2016. A complete republican sweep isn’t out of the question.
granpa.usthai March 8th, 2015 at 8:29 pm
no surprise there, or in what % of ‘Democracy’ would be cut where?
labman57 March 8th, 2015 at 7:18 pm
Some conservatives wax nostalgic for a return to the dawn of the United States, when only white male landowners had the right to vote.
tracey marie March 8th, 2015 at 7:50 pm
How about they just do the best job for the country and the people and see what happens
rg9rts March 9th, 2015 at 6:51 am
PIQUE!!!!!!
granpa.usthai March 8th, 2015 at 8:27 pm
speaking of memories
seems like the latest snake oil election had a lot of Republicans all bent out of shape over the VA medical services, but since the election that put them BACK IN CHARGE not one damn thing has been done!?!
How about it Senate REPUBLICONS?
you gonna follow through on all your hoopla election outrage – or just sit there trying to think up ways to blame the out of power Democrats?
oldfart March 8th, 2015 at 8:39 pm
for the sake of WHO’s long term economic growth exactly ?!?
jybarz March 9th, 2015 at 11:06 am
Kochs’!
bpollen March 8th, 2015 at 9:07 pm
He has some valid points about the way congress works, but his solution has many inherent problems. Like with Plato’s noocracy, who decides who the wise and knowledgeable are? What are the qualifications? What prevents the noocrats or epicrats from being just as corrupt and beholden to moneyed interests? Does knowledgeable mean moral or ethical? The Tuskegee Experiment and Eugenics being fine examples of learned decisions with no ethical base. Where are the checks and balances on these knowledge-o-crats? What do you do if you end up with a Paul Broun of your very own as the knowledge-o-crat? You know, the kind who thinks everything he learned is a lie and the Bible has all the answers? How do we keep out the Jonathan Kratzes of the world?
His connections to Orrin Hatch makes his position suspect even if we ignore the faults in his proposal.
Tim Coolio March 8th, 2015 at 10:11 pm
The rightwing haters think democracy is a liberal plot!
fancypants March 9th, 2015 at 6:24 am
I would cut the professors pay with longer daily work hours Then call it a test pilot program
rg9rts March 9th, 2015 at 6:50 am
If he’s so smart….why ain’t he rich??
rg9rts March 9th, 2015 at 6:52 am
OMG effin disqus is such a mess
Warman1138 March 9th, 2015 at 6:53 am
This is just another way of saying that only rich people are knowledgeable and wise so they should have a say over the majority more than what they do now. But the government has already been bought and sold. So now they want to be handed over control so they don’t have to buy it anymore……….hmmmmmm…..There’s nothing more satisfying than cutting costs and increasing profitability while saving America from the evils of a liberal society…………or driving it over a cliff. Either way it’s an insult to the average person who by this travesty is considered too mentally deficient to participate in governing themselves. The Koch brothers solution to a problem of their own making, upgrade the wealthy and downgrade the average and the poor.
Suzanne McFly March 9th, 2015 at 10:11 am
They are modern day Marie Antoinette….”let them eat cake”.
Suzanne McFly March 9th, 2015 at 10:10 am
This is exactly what evil looks like and money is definitely at the root.
Roctuna March 9th, 2015 at 10:20 am
Dr. Jones has published on scholarly work such as “speed bankruptcy” and is a favorite on faux business and cnbc
http://mercatus.org/garett-jones
jybarz March 9th, 2015 at 12:14 pm
“Democracy leaves power to the majority while epistocracy allocates power to the knowledgeable”
Does he think that majority of voters should get rid of the stupid, low information, low intelligence GOP/ conservative politicians and supporters? Because the idea of majority and knowledgeable I think sits well with the Liberal/ Democrats’ side of politics and not with the GOP.
Check (left is Dems:right is GOP):- pro-science:anti-science; climate change acceptance:denial; pro-education:anti-education; renewables:fossil fuels; voters rights:suppression….