My research project focuses on democratic theory and the normative dimensions of political economy in both a contemporary and historical frame. Specifically, I focus on the complex mechanisms of elite influence concentrated at the very top of the economic pyramid, among a diverse group of people I refer to as ›oligarchs.‹ Oligarchs are agents who maintain personal access to massive concentrated wealth, and who deploy that wealth for discretionary influence in the public domain. This category thus encompasses a range of actors. Some billionaires use their wealth to secure elective office, for example, while others deploy their wealth in more informal ways, as political activists, media moguls, and mega-philanthropists.

My current book manuscript, Oligarchs Among Us, provides a historically informed theorization of oligarchic power in contemporary democracies. I develop a set of strategies for conceptualizing oligarchic power, while recognizing that oligarchy and democracy have a complex and intertwined relationship that can be traced through the perspectives of canonical theorists from ancient Greece to the present. Relatedly, I continue to perform research on issues like tax policy, tax sheltering, and the proper role of private philanthropy in a liberal democratic society. I’m interested in the mechanisms through which private wealth can contribute to healthy liberal democracy (i.e. by supporting pluralism and freedom) while also arguing that the political consequences of private wealth must be subjected to proper democratic scrutiny. (Gordon Arlen)