Is the US now a plutocratic republic instead of a democratic republic?
I think it’s important to look at trends. The trends since Reagan was president has been toward deregulation, but less so in the Clinton years on the federal level. Before FDR, the federal govenment was only a fraction of the size it is now. FDR brought of course the New Deal and problems with organized crime and the banning of alcohol helped bring about the need the FBI federal crime unit in that era. Generally, with bigger govenment, I see less power being given to businesses. Lately, Bush has made the govenment bigger, yet in my opinion, has been moderately active in imposing regulation. Yet he has also backed-off taxes of the ordinary citizen. The size of corporations has boomed worldwide and they do have great power to effect society in our country. I personally think it is a good thing to have organization outside the hands of a few and find big govenment a bad idea. Although, regulation is certainly helpful especially with issues such as conservation and anything that effect hum
