| International Standard Book Number |
9781668221532
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| International Standard Book Number |
1668221535
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| Dewey Decimal Classification Number |
321.5
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| Personal Name |
Winters, Jeffrey A. (Jeffrey Alan), 1960- author.
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| Title Statement |
The blind spot : how oligarchs dominate our democracy / Jeffrey Winters.
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| Varying Form of Title |
How oligarchs dominate our democracy.
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| Edition Statement |
First Scribner hardcover edition.
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| Imprint |
©2026.
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| Imprint |
New York : Scribner, 2026.
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| Physical Description |
370 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm.
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| Bibliography, Etc. Note |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 315-348) and index.
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| Formatted Contents Note |
Domination through democracy -- The era of explosive inequality -- Making oligarchs pay -- The turning point -- The birth of an illusion -- The era of in-your-face oligarchy -- The house never wins -- The maze -- The politics of preparation.
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| Summary, Etc. |
The wealthy and powerful few have dominated the many throughout most of human history. This is now more starkly visible than ever--a time when, with politicians bought and paid for across the political spectrum, the gulf between oligarchs and average citizens is larger than any gap that existed during European feudalism or the slave society of Imperial Rome. One thing is clear: the world is heading into an even deeper state of inequality, one that oligarchs of past eras could only have dreamed of. The strange thing is, for the first time in history, this domination is accomplished through democracy. Yet we aren't in open revolt against the system. In fact, we seemingly keep voting to prop it up. Why? In The Blind Spot, political scientist Jeffrey Winters delivers a timely, incisive account of how we reached this era of in-your-face oligarchy. Tracing the evolution of wealth power through the modern democratic era, he demonstrates how domination by oligarchs isn't just a flaw in our democracy, but a foundational feature--allowing the wealthy to limit the agenda, control the marketplace of ideas, and rewire the law to defend, hide, and increase their money and power. Now, in an extraordinary paradox, we exist in a state of "participatory inequality," a world in which the 99.99 percent of us participate openly, freely, and democratically in our own ongoing exclusion and exploitation. But The Blind Spot ultimately sounds a clarion call for change, arming us not only with a vital lens through which we can understand just how bad our political reality has become, but also with bold ideas for how we might shift the balance of power. While powerful oligarchs do not cede power willingly, this period of shocking inequality is nevertheless an opportunity for change.
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| Subject Added Entry - Topical Term |
Elite (Social sciences)
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| Subject Added Entry - Topical Term |
Income distribution.
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| Subject Added Entry - Topical Term |
Democracy.
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| Subject Added Entry - Topical Term |
Oligarchy.
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| Index Term-Genre/Form |
History.
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| Index Term-Genre/Form |
Informational works.
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