Money and Politics

Abstract

Americans appear to hate politics. And is it any wonder? The process of persuading an increasingly smaller fraction of the electorate to vote for a particular candidate has become unpleasant and expensive. The victorious candidates seem to be joyful for themselves and not for the portion of the republic they serve; the major parties seem to take their definition not from an articulated set of principles but from the fact that they oppose the other party. Some say civility in public matters has degenerated so much that the parties snarl at one another like rival street gangs. Nor is this merely a matter of a style confined to the electioneering season. The incivility and carping are now the norm for public discourse in and out of the election campaigns. Given the dreary and offputting nature of public deliberation and discourse, no one can be sure what the true basis of any public act is: did the majority party champion some bill because it truly believed it to be in the public interest? Or were they moved to do so by strategic considerations of outflanking the opposition from introducing a more (less) radical measure? Or was the bill a payment by the majority to a significant group of supporters—