❄ End the Plutocracy?

“Money is the mother’s milk of politics.”

“The United States is not a representative democracy, but a plutocracy.”

Elected officials and aspirants spend much of their time raising money and, in turn, become dependent on those who fund them.

The Question

Can the link between ‘big money’ and elected officials be broken?

Approaches

Electoral reform. Can the United States stop the corrosive effects of ‘big money’ by setting a maximum size on campaign contributions? What results of McCain-Feingold?

Do the free speech provisions of the First Amendment require that corporations be free to spend for the candidates of their choice?

Public funding. Some propose public funding of electoral campaigns.

I’m drawn to the ‘pull-only’ rule: rather than candidates’ buying vast advertising time, telephone banks, and lapel pins, why not confine them to their web sites and let each citizen decide whether to look at their messages or ignore them? “Don’t call me, I’ll call you.”

The Political Design Problem

Is there a better way? And how could reform be realized?

Texts

[1] Common Cause: Money http://www.commoncause.org/site/pp.asp?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=191979

[Political Design 2005.08.11 Post A05. http://www.learnworld.com/blog/design.html]