# Martin Gilens Political scientist (UCLA, formerly Princeton) whose empirical research demonstrates that U.S. government policy responds almost exclusively to the preferences of the wealthy. His landmark 2014 study with Benjamin Page, "Testing Theories of American Politics," found that average citizens have "near-zero" independent influence on policy outcomes, while economic elites and organized interest groups dominate. The paper became one of the most cited pieces of evidence for the [[Plutocracy]] thesis — that American democracy functions as an [[Oligarchy]] in practice.