The United States of America was founded on the principles of democracy and the belief that government should represent all of its people in the same way. Our constitution is a remarkable document of law, although not without its problems.
Protections for Black Americans and women were left out for many years, and the gaps within the constitution reflected the gaps within our society. Fortunately, as time has passed, America has incrementally corrected her problem of inequality, albeit the fight is still not over. It is no secret that wealthy Americans receive more from our government than middle- and low-income Americans; however, this was masked in the days of the civil rights era and earlier when race and gender were at the forefront of the race for equality.
Now, as people of color and women continue to fight for their equal footing in society, class relations are being throttled into the mainstream battle for liberty. Not ceding any territory in its culpability of unfair treatment, is money in politics.
The best advantage to a true democracy is that every individual that is a citizen within the borders of the given state’s territory has equal influence in the decision-making process of electing their leaders. Voting ought to be the great equalizer, and it can be, but not without major changes to our current system.
In the status quo, due in large part to a couple of recent Supreme Court decisions, there are few restrictions on political spending for individuals, and even fewer for organizations. A political leader should only be focused on benefiting the people as a whole. When politicians are funded by organizations or industries, for instance the coal industry, he/she is automatically motivated and obligated to make decisions that benefit the donor before the citizens of the United States.
Any politician that says he/she can take donations from private interests and not be beholden to their every wish is not being honest with his/herself or the American people.
The ability of individuals, corporations, and private interests to influence political outcomes more than the average citizen ensures that America is no longer a democracy for the people, but an oligarchy -- that is, a government for the few wealthy elites within society. When individuals believe that their vote, beliefs and value system matter less than their neighbor’s with the nicer car, their desire of civil engagement decreases. Because this has been occurring all over the country for decades, voter turnout is at an extremely low level, especially for state and local elections. Low voter turnout over an extended period of time has ensured that our thriving democratic values are reaching dangerously low levels.
Arguments for having no restrictions on political expenditure rest on a first amendment case. The idea here is that an individual’s money is part of their freedom of speech and expression and therefore cannot be infringed upon by government. The first amendment refers to an individual’s liberty in which he/she can express the depths of his/her intellectual capacity uninhibited by government.
Money is an inorganic, man-made phenomenon that has little or nothing to do with one’s natural intellectual thought process. Claiming that the spending of an individual ought to be included under the protection of the first amendment is an affront to the founding fathers who believed that free thought, expression, and speech were among the most important rights the citizens of the United States can have.
The amount of dollars spent on campaigns appears to be increasing by the year with no end in sight. Other than campaign finance hurting the very foundation in which a democracy is built, it is also an exorbitant waste of money that could be spent funding the unfulfilled promises that politicians boldly state every election cycle. Instead of raising money for their own self-gain, politicians should raise money to help the most vulnerable in society.
The amount of wasted dollars on false advertisements, unimpressive speeches, and needless travel time could be better spent on education, infrastructure in communities that desperately need it and improving the lives of everyday Americans. The only way to sure up our democracy is to bring extreme campaign finance reform and sensible heads to Washington.
