That one–and first–would be to enact an idea proposed by a Republican (Teddy Roosevelt) a century ago: citizen-funded elections. America won’t believe in Congress, and Congress won’t deliver on reform, whether from the right or the left, until Congress is no longer dependent upon conservative-with-a-small-c interests–meaning those in the hire of the status quo, keen to protect the status quo against change. So long as the norms support a system in which members sell out for the purpose of raising funds to get re-elected, citizens will continue to believe that money buys results in Congress. So long as citizens believe that, it will.
Citizen-funded elections could come in a number of forms. The most likely is the current bill sponsored in the House by Democrat John Larson and Republican Walter Jones, in the Senate by Democrats Dick Durbin and Arlen Specter. That bill is a hybrid between traditional public funding and small-dollar donations. Under this Fair Elections Now Act (which, by the way, is just about the dumbest moniker for the statute possible, at least if the sponsors hope to avoid Supreme Court invalidation), candidates could opt in to a system that would give them, after clearing certain hurdles, substantial resources to run a campaign. Candidates would also be free to raise as much money as they want in contributions maxed at $100 per citizen.
The only certain effect of this first change would be to make it difficult to believe that money buys any results in Congress. A second change would make that belief impossible: banning any member of Congress from working in any lobbying or consulting capacity in Washington for seven years after his or her term. Part of the economy of influence that corrupts our government today is that Capitol Hill has become, as Representative Jim Cooper put it, a “farm league for K Street.” But K Street will lose interest after seven years, and fewer in Congress would think of their career the way my law students think about life after law school–six to eight years making around $180,000, and then doubling or tripling that as a partner, where “partnership” for members of Congress means a comfortable position on K Street.
How to Get Our Democracy Back If You Want Change, You Have to Change Congress By Lawrence Lessig
In general publicly funded campaigns are horrible. They further insulate political elites from popular opinions. This happens because the normal process is that politicians have to ask for both votes and money and under this policy they only have to ask for votes. They also further entrench the existing political parties because they are more established brands and so therefore more likely to get a disproportionate increase in funding. I see house bill as better than the other systems I know of where previous election performance determines the size of the government grant. By providing vouchers for political contributions this system would at least attempt to allocate for the preferences of citizens rather than for the direct benefit of entrenched elites. Unfortunately. the likely outcome is simply the indirect further entrenchment of political elites.
