A campaign-finance reform argument appealing to both the left and right?

Posted on June 12, 2012 at 3:01 pm, by

Partisans on the left and right side of the political divide both have complaints about Congress. Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig argues that some of their complaints stem from the same problem: corruption.

Lessig has been arguing in a series of public presentations in the Triangle that changes in the federal campaign-finance system would address concerns for both liberals and conservatives. The video clip below highlights a key piece of his luncheon presentation for the John Locke Foundation and Common Cause.

3:30 p.m. update: Click play below to watch the full 1:08:22 event.

You’ll find other John Locke Foundation video presentations here.

One comment

  1. Lessig gave an excellent presentation, but I’m not convinced that his suggested solution (financing political campaigns mostly through small contributions) would get at the real problem. (He said that he’s interested in a “strike the root” solution and doesn’t want to merely hack at the branches of the noxious plant of political corruption.) Many of the pieces of special interest legislation he (and I) dislike date back well before political campaigns became so enormously expensive. Farm subsidies, e.g., go back to the New Deal era when running for office cost comparatively little. The root of the problem, as I see it, is that politicians have always been able to operate behind a smokescreen of deception and rational voter ignorance. Even if we had Lessig’s suggested new campaign financing system, politicians will still made deals with special interest groups as long as the majority of voters remain clueless as to the true impact of all the statutes and regulations. The “exopolitics” Lessig speaks of fondly can make a difference, but will do so only to the extent that it succeeds in enlightening voters on the many ways politicians and interest groups conspire to extract wealth from society for themselves.

    Comment by George Leef on June 12, 2012 at 4:30 pm

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