Democracy in America? What Has Gone Wrong and What We Can Do About It

Page (Gordon Scott Fulcher Professor of Decision Making, Northwestern Univ.; coauthor, Class War?) and Gilens (politics, Princeton Univ.; Why Americans Hate Welfare) describe how democracy in America has been perverted into an oligarchy by the flood of money in politics. That flood became a deluge after the 2010 Supreme Court decision in Citizens United gave corporations "free speech rights" to funnel unlimited amounts of cash into politics. Billionaires limit political choice, denying funding to candidates who do not champion their interests. They fund campaigns without substance by extremist candidates, often in gerrymandered districts. Once elected, politicians are even more dependent on the uberrich for reelection funds. Thus, Americans who overwhelmingly favor single-payer health insurance end up with congressional bills that seek to destroy Obamacare and gut other federal health programs. Readers may despair at the bleak picture in this work, but the authors believe that partisan gridlock, economic inequality, and dirty money can only be corrected with public campaign finance, reforms to limit the two-party dictatorship of Republicans and Democrats, and reengagement of ordinary citizens.