Democracy for Sale

Corporate Power v. The Public Will

Supporters of campaign finance reform listen as members of Congress discuss a joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to contributions and expenditures intended to affect elections outside the U.S. Capitol, September 8, 2014, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

In a functioning democracy, the government answers to the people. However, in our democracy, it increasingly answers to the highest bidder. While headlines focus on culture wars and partisan gridlock, a deeper threat chips away at the foundation of democratic life. The threat of corporate influence on public policy. From lobbying and campaign financing to the privatization of public services. There is no question whether democracy can deliver; the question is who it is delivering to?

The core principle of democracy is that all citizens have an equal voice in its process. However, today those voices are being drowned out by corporate interests that can pump unconscionable amounts of money and resources into influencing policy. The Citizens United v. FEC Supreme Court decision in 2010 further amplified this issue, as the final decision allowed corporations to give as much money as they wished to political figures under the guise of free speech. The result: public policy started to reflect the values of corporate stakeholders over the needs of the general public. Examples range from the loose climate change policies to the skyrocketing healthcare costs.

A sign protesting the Citizens United decision outside the Supreme Court, Jan. 20, 2012. Photo: CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Jean-Jacques Rousseau warned that democracy depends on the expression of the “general will,” or in other words, the collective interests of the public. In our current state, with special interests dominating the policymaking process, the general will Rousseau speaks of is completely undermined, replaced with corporate agendas being passed as public goods. John Dewey, in The Public and Its Problems, argued, “democracy is not merely voting—it is the ongoing process of communication, deliberation, and shared problem-solving.”

This issue isn’t one about fairness, it is one about survival. In simple terms, a democracy that is powerless to regulate powerful corporations cannot protect its people from economic exploitation. Campaign finance reform and stronger lobbying regulations are not radical ideas in the slightest, they are necessary to restore a legitimate democracy.

Illustration of money being handed off in front of a government building. https://www.iccr.org/corporate-lobbying/

In other words, we must as a nation stop treating the government like a customer service desk and start reclaiming it as a tool for the people to collectively use for the betterment of the population. This takes more than simply voting, but organizing to demand structural reform, supporting candidates who reject PAC money, and pushing for the overturn of Citizens United.

As Rousseau once said: “The people of England think they are free; they are greatly mistaken.” Our nation can not survive as a democracy coexisting with an oligarchy. Will we continue down the path of privatized governance and deepening inequality, or push the nation to belong to the many instead of the few? Only time will tell.

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