How Oligarchs Actually Control Democracy | How Power Works

Jeffrey Winters, a political scientist at Northwestern University, joins us to unpack one of the most urgent questions in modern politics: how do oligarchs turn wealth into political power? Winters challenges the way we typically think about power. Oligarchs aren’t just “corrupt billionaires” in far-off countries, they're individuals whose vast wealth gives them influence far beyond that of ordinary citizens. And crucially, they operate within democratic systems, not outside them. From the rise of what Winters calls “in-your-face oligarchy” to the hidden mechanics of the “wealth defence industry", we explore how money flows through politics to quietly reshape outcomes. If democracy is supposed to be rule by the people, what happens when wealth consistently tilts the playing field? Minima by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Like PoliticsJOE? We need your support: https://www.patreon.com/PoliticsJOE