[programmarchy]

Sounds zen but I don’t think that’s really how it works. The media may manufacture political opinions for the mass, but they are not the locus of power. The difference between a democracy and a more openly totalitarian state is that democracy affords power the benefit of the average citizen feeling that they are “bought in”; that they too have a slice of power by participating in the bureaucracy, which to a limited extent is true. Instead of a king with royal garb, a palace, a court, etc. so obviously distinct from the nobles and peasants, in a democratic state power takes on an ephemeral form. It’s no longer obvious who or what really has sovereign authority. When citizens are “bought in” rather than being dragged along, power has more room to grow.

[hackerbeat]

America is not a democracy but an oligarchy. The rich decide who's in charge. Meaning, they have all the power.

[tata71]

Manufactured Consent.

[programmarchy]

Also, On Power: The Natural History of Its Growth, by de Jouvenel.