Republic, Lost

v.1

From the publisher Twelve Books

In an era when special interests funnel huge amounts of money into our government—driven by shifts in campaign-finance rules and brought to new levels by the Supreme Court in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission—trust in our government has reached an all-time low. More than ever before, Americans believe that money buys results in Congress, and that business interests wield control over our legislature.

With heartfelt urgency and a keen desire for righting wrongs, Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig takes a clear-eyed look at how we arrived at this crisis: how fundamentally good people, with good intentions, have allowed our democracy to be co-opted by outside interests, and how this exploitation has become entrenched in the system. Rejecting simple labels and reductive logic—and instead using examples that resonate as powerfully on the Right as on the Left—Lessig seeks out the root causes of our situation. He plumbs the issues of campaign financing and corporate lobbying, revealing the human faces and follies that have allowed corruption to take such a foothold in our system. He puts the issues in terms that nonwonks can understand, using real-world analogies and real human stories. And ultimately he calls for widespread mobilization and a new Constitutional Convention, presenting achievable solutions for regaining control of our corrupted—but redeemable—representational system. In this way, Lessig plots a roadmap for returning our republic to its intended greatness.

While America may be divided, Lessig vividly champions the idea that we can succeed if we accept that corruption is our common enemy and that we must find a way to fight against it. In REPUBLIC, LOST, he not only makes this need palpable and clear—he gives us the practical and intellectual tools to do something about it.

Contents
Preface
Introduction
Part 1: The Nature of This Disease
1. Good Souls, Corrupted.
2. Good Questions, Raised
3. 1 + 1 =
Part 2: Tells
1. Why Don’t We Have Free Markets?
2. Why Don’t We Have Efficient Markets?
3. Why Don’t We Have Successful Schools?
4. Why Isn’t Our Financial System Safe?
  - “Where Were the Regulators?”
5. What the “Tells” Tell Us
Part 3: Beyond Suspicion: Congress’s Corruption
1. Why So Damn Much Money
  - Demand for Campaign Cash
  - Supply of Campaign Cash: Substance
  - Supply of Campaign Cash: New Norms
  - Supply of Campaign Cash: New Suppliers
  - Economies, Gift and Otherwise
2. What So Damn Much Money Does
  - A Baseline of Independence
  - Deviations from a Baseline
    1. It Matters Not at All
    2. Distraction
    3. Distortion
    4. Trust
3. How So Damn Much Money Defeats the Left
4. How So Damn Much Money Defeats the Right
  1. Making Government Small
  2. Simple Taxes
  3. Keeping Markets Efficient
5. How So Little Money Makes Things Worse
  - The Ways We Pay Congress
  - The Benefits of Working for Members
6. Two Conceptions of “Corruption”
Part 4: Solutions
1. Reforms That Won’t
  - The Incompleteness of Transparency
  - The (Practical) Ineffectiveness of Anonymity
2. Reforms That Would
  - The Grant and Franklin Project
3. Strategy 1: The Conventional Game
4. Strategy 2: An Unconventional (Primary) Game
5. Strategy 3: An Unconventional Presidential Game
6. Strategy 4: The Convention Game
7. Choosing Strategies
8. Conclusion: Rich People
Acknowledgments
Appendix: What You Can Do, Now
Notes
Index

Links & Resources

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 2: GOOD QUESTIONS, RAISED

CHAPTER 4: WHY DON’T WE HAVE FREE MARKETS?

CHAPTER 4, 5

CHAPTER 4 CHAPTER 5: WHY DON’T WE HAVE EFFICIENT MARKETS?

CHAPTER 5, 11

Pro-Environment Groups Outmatched, Outspent in Battle Over Climate Change Legislation - OpenSecrets Blog | OpenSecrets - cache

CHAPTER 6: WHY DON’T WE HAVE SUCCESSFUL SCHOOLS?

CHAPTER 7, 14

Top 10 Hedge Fund Managers 2009 Salary | The Big Picture - cache

CHAPTER 7: WHY ISN’T OUR FINANCIAL SYSTEM SAFE?

CHAPTER 9: WHY SO DAMN MUCH MONEY

CHAPTER 9, 14

Democracy at the Corner of First and Fourteenth: Judicial Campaign Spending and Equality by James Sample :: SSRN - cache

CHAPTER 9 CHAPTER 9, 12

http://www.abanet.org/media/nosearch/lobbying_task_force_report_010311.pdf

CHAPTER 9 CHAPTER 10: WHAT SO DAMN MUCH MONEY DOES

CHAPTER 11: HOW SO DAMN MUCH MONEY DEFEATS THE LEFT

CHAPTER 11, 12

http://www.cms.gov/ReportsTrustFunds/downloads/tr2009.pdf

CHAPTER 11 CHAPTER 12: HOW SO DAMN MUCH MONEY DEFEATS THE RIGHT

CHAPTER 13: HOW SO LITTLE MONEY MAKES THINGS WORSE

CHAPTER 14: TWO CONCEPTIONS OF “CORRUPTION”

PART 4

Jon Stewart and Bill O'Reilly bond over campaign corruption - CSMonitor.com - cache

CHAPTER 15: REFORMS THAT WON’T

CHAPTER 16: REFORMS THAT WOULD

CHAPTER 19: STRATEGY 3: AN UNCONVENTIONAL PRESIDENTIAL GAME

President Obama’s $8 Billion Earmark Rerun: Lesson Not Learned? - ABC News - cache

CHAPTER 20: STRATEGY 4: THE CONVENTION GAME

CONCLUSION

The 400 Richest Americans 2009 - Forbes.com - cache