Plutocracy Rising: Billionaire Politicians and Gerrymandered Companies

Two new studies add to a growing body of literature that highlights the dysfunction of global plutocracy, particularly in the United States, alongside the global rise of billionaire politicians.

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It is no secret that in politics, money talks.

Long have there been worries that democracy may drift toward plutocracy, a society governed not “of the people, by the people, and for the people,” but of, by, and for the rich people. And in every country on the planet, including the most robust democracies, the rich wield disproportionate political power.

But these days, it feels more acute. Donald Trump could be on the cusp of returning to the White House. Elon Musk is awkwardly egging him on like a boyish cartoon villain. Billionaires like Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko are savaging world peace. And an increasing slice of our world is being determined not by dictators, but by unaccountable tech oligarchs who are reshaping the world without a single voter weighing in on whether they should.

In the United States, money plays a particular role in power, not just from the landmark Citizens United Supreme Court ruling, but from other more hidden and nefarious influences. As Jason Linkins of The New Republic notes:

The U.S. is growing in stature as one of the premier locations for oligarchs of all stripes to safely stash their cash. As TNR contributor Casey Michel has noted, the top grifters in the kleptocracy extended universe aren’t just parking their loot in popular Western capitals, they’re buying up real estate in Cleveland—where Ukrainian kleptocrat Ihor Kolomoisky was, at one point, “the largest commercial real estate holder” in the city. There’s a sizable amount of corrupt money flowing through America’s think tanks as well. And the Pandora Papers revealed that there is a small army of stateside lawyers ready to come to the aid of those who need to keep their filthy lucre hidden.

And right now, a network of rich, malicious actors are amplifying dangerous conspiracy theories during a devastating natural disaster—literally getting people killed with their lies, all while cashing in on the clicks.

Beyond just the United States, grotesque inequality plagues modern humanity. Lucky weirdo billionaires are splurging on superyachts and space fantasies while the unlucky bottom billion live in overcrowded spaces without clean water. To many, it feels like a dystopian gilded age, in which the rich play with our lives while the masses toil for them.

Two new studies help elaborate on why this feeling may be warranted. By taking a systematic look at two often ignored realms of political science, these researchers are exposing how money is swaying politics—in America and beyond.