Northwestern University political scientist Jeffrey Winters discussed his new book, The Blind Spot: How Oligarchs Dominate Our Democracies, on Democracy Now on May 27. Winters argued that democracy’s failure to address wealth inequality is by design rather than accident.
While voters influence some policy questions, Winters said oligarchs who resist wealth redistribution wield greater economic power than participation alone can counterbalance. He described liberal democracies worldwide as among the most unequal societies in human history despite expanded voting rights over centuries.
Winters compared Imperial Rome’s wealth gap of roughly 16,000 to one between elite senators and average citizens with a contemporary ratio of about 140,000 to one between Forbes 400 averages and the U.S. median person. That concentration, he argued, persists within democratic institutions that also guarantee speech and consent-of-the-governed principles.
He linked visible tech billionaires to deeper structural oligarchy sustained through tax enforcement limitations and corporate transparency battles, citing the 2021 Corporate Transparency Act and subsequent exemptions as examples. Artificial intelligence concentration among few corporations, he warned, could deepen inequality if profit motives dominate deployment.
Winters pointed to policy remedies outlined in the book, urging public attention to regulatory struggles that determine whether governments can tax and audit concentrated wealth effectively.
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Sources:
https://www.democracynow.org/2026/5/27/the_blind_spot