ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the Thomas Ferguson and Joel Rogers analysis with arguments and empirical data that completely contradict their most important claims. It argues that the relationship between electoral campaigns and policy options is not nearly as close as they claim and that they are wrong empirically about which fat cats support Democrats. The chapter provides an overview of the Ferguson and Rogers analysis. It explains why there is a large gap between politics and policy-making in the United States. The chapter also explains systematic empirical evidence on campaign finance that refutes Ferguson and Rogers's anecdotal account of Democratic supporters during the New Deal and their flawed systematic study of Democratic contributors in 1984. It presents analysis of the financial basis of the Democratic party. The purpose of Right Turn is to explain the decline of the Democrats in the 1970s and the 1980s.
