A new report by Professors Benjamin Page, Larry Bartels, and Jason Seawright presents the findings from one of the first studies of its kind—a study of the political clout and policy preferences of the wealth. Based on a pilot study of Chicagoans with a mean wealth of 14 million, "Democracy and the Policy Preferences of Wealthy Americans" shows that the wealthiest Americans not only are the most politically active, but have a different set of policy priorities.
Read the full research article at the American Political Science Association's "Perspectives on Politics."
Their findings, which were cited in Demos' foundational paper Stacked Deck, show the extent to which wealthy interests are keenly focused on concerns not shared by the rest of the American public, like keeping taxes low on capital gains, and often oppose policies that would foster upward mobility among low-income citizens, such as raising the minimum wage.