There are several channels through which the money of the elites exerts a decisive influence on democracy. To cite the most important: (i) contributions by corporations and rich individuals to political campaigns, (ii) lobby activities to affect legislation, (iii) the ownership, funding and shaping of messages by the mass media and the advertisement industry, (iv) the mobilization of public intellectuals and academics to provide technical arguments in favor of pro-elite policies. Nowadays the most important corporate decisions concerning investment, remunerations of CEOs, middle rank managers and workers, location of are made in the opacity of corporate boardrooms, which are accountable only to a small group of dominant stockholders. The lack of economic democracy of current society is, indeed, large. Consumers, workers and community members are, notably, outside the small circle of decision makers, although they are, of course, directly affected by the decisions made by economic and political elites. This book examines the main impacts of neoliberal capitalism on the formation and consolidation of business and financial elites, the fragmentation of the middle class, the diminished role of labor, the frequency of financial crisis, the increased globalization of elites and talent mobility along with the rise of social and protest movements around the globe. The book also explores the scope for greater economic democracy as an alternative to elite-dominated capitalism. The Different Phases of Capitalism since the 19th century: Laissez-Faire, Regulated and Neoliberal Capitalism From an historical perspective, capitalism has undergone different phases in the last two centuries or so. In the 19th century”, say from around 1815 up to 1913 before the First “long World War, in Europe and the New World (USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) the dominant
There are several channels through which the money of the elites exerts a decisive influence on democracy. To cite the most important: (i) contributions by corporations and rich individuals to political campaigns, (ii) lobby activities to affect legislation, (iii) the ownership, funding and shaping of messages by the mass media and the advertisement industry, (iv) the mobilization of public intellectuals and academics to provide technical arguments in favor of pro-elite policies. Nowadays the most important corporate decisions concerning investment, remunerations of CEOs, middle rank managers and workers, location of are made in the opacity of corporate boardrooms, which are accountable only to a small group of dominant stockholders. The lack of economic democracy of current society is, indeed, large. Consumers, workers and community members are, notably, outside the small circle of decision makers, although they are, of course, directly affected by the decisions made by economic and political elites. This book examines the main impacts of neoliberal capitalism on the formation and consolidation of business and financial elites, the fragmentation of the middle class, the diminished role of labor, the frequency of financial crisis, the increased globalization of elites and talent mobility along with the rise of social and protest movements around the globe. The book also explores the scope for greater economic democracy as an alternative to elite-dominated capitalism. The Different Phases of Capitalism since the 19th century: Laissez-Faire, Regulated and Neoliberal Capitalism From an historical perspective, capitalism has undergone different phases in the last two centuries or so. In the “long 19th century”, say from around 1815 up to 1913 before the First World War, in Europe and the New World (USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) the dominant
Capitalism-of-the-21st-Century-Wealthy-Elites-and-Economic-Democracy.docx