The 2024 election cycle is looking to be the most expensive in history, projected at $10.2 billion, with more outside spending by super PACs than ever before. The problem of money in politics has long been a concern among community groups seeking to put into practice the idea of a participatory democracy. When special interest, corporate, and dark money hold influence over political candidates, the power of people to elect and hold their representatives accountable diminishes. With the 2010 Supreme Court decision in Citizens United, the ability of unaccountable big money to control our democracy grew so exponentially that a dark shadow continually hovers over efforts to grow community power from the ground.
But the problem of money in politics is far bigger than elections. Special interest, corporate, and wealthy donors are controlling other aspects of democracy, impacting the very governance that allows democracy to function in our communities. Following the money can help us untangle and understand how and why this consolidation of power and money is happening – and sharpen our focus on what to do about it.
The recent Supreme Court decision in Trump v. United States has rightly drawn attention for its unprecedented expansion of presidential immunity. This new presumption of immunity from criminal prosecution further consolidates power by removing the possibility of calling misuse of power into question. Perhaps as concerning was the refusal of Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito to recuse themselves from the case, despite clear evidence of conflicts of interest. In the case of Justice Thomas, calls for recusal stem from reports of his wife Ginni Thomas’ involvement in efforts to reverse the results of the 2020 election. Justice Alito firmly declined to recuse himself despite his wife having flown at their homes an upside-down American flag and an “Appeal to Heaven” flag, both symbols of support for Donald Trump and the January 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Both justices have been the beneficiaries of extravagant vacations and other gifts paid for by prominent wealthy donors, such as Harlan Crow and Leonard Leo, who are part of a larger effort to advance a conservative agenda through groups including the Federalist Society.
Money influences state courts as well. State courts decide over 95 percent of cases filed in the US and on issues that impact our lives every day, including reproductive justice, education equity, and criminal law. A report commissioned by Piper Fund and conducted by True North Research pulls back the curtain to reveal both the few wealthy donors seeking to control state courts and a clear roadmap connecting their money and the freedoms they seek to restrict. In line with the spending for 2024 elections broadly, this year will see the most expensive state judicial elections ever, with substantial funding from donors including Jeffrey Yass, Dick Uihlein, and Leonard Leo.
When people want to have a say in what happens in their neighborhoods, schools, and communities, the influence of special interest money shows up as well. In Atlanta, community members have been protesting the building of a police training facility that will reinforce militarized policing while taking away valued green space in the Weelaunee Forest. Meanwhile, the Atlanta Police Foundation and the corporate interests supporting it have dominated decisions about the facility, drowning out the voices of community members. The police foundation has access to the city’s decision makers in a way regular people do not. According to a Chronicle of Philanthropy article, the foundation’s president meets regularly with elected city leaders, while community members and nonprofit leaders have waited hours to speak at city council meetings, limited to two minutes each.
When Enbridge’s Line 3 tar sands oil pipeline was threatening the sovereign rights of Indigenous people and the quality of the water in Minnesota, the very company that community members were protesting was funding the policing of those protests. Enbridge paid over $8.6 million to police and other agencies to cover expenses such as wages, meals, equipment, and training.
The influence of unaccountable money in controlling the actions of elected leaders as well as other aspects of governing is a clear pattern. Core to democracy is the power of people to decide the conditions of their communities. When special interests buy access, policy, and even the tools of government such as policing, this consolidation of power makes a fiction of democracy. Democracy has never been perfect and has a long way to go to be truly inclusive. But ceding the value of people’s voices and power to corporate interests and a handful of wealthy donors is ceding democracy itself.
When we follow the money, we see that a lot is at stake, as evidenced by recent Supreme Court decisions that have overturned decades of precedent and upset the balance of separation of powers. Also at stake is the ability of regular people to have a true voice in elections up and down the ballot, in state courts entrusted with deciding critical issues, and in their constitutionally protected right to protest and dissent.
What is the role of progressive philanthropy which itself holds power through money? Philanthropy’s power and influence can be in answer to the consolidation of power and money, by investing in building community power.
• Fund community organizing. Support local and state level organizations that practice building community power through organizing around issues that matter in their communities. The PAYBAC Table in Pennsylvania is shining a light on the influence of Jeffrey Yass, a billionaire who has poured millions of dollars into state judicial elections to influence decisions, including on school curriculum and teaching of actual history, and has become one of the largest donors nationally to conservative causes. Their creative organizing has been core to countering consolidated power with people power.
• Support an ecosystem. A thriving ecosystem requires a diversity of organisms and healthy conditions. Similarly, an ecosystem approach counters consolidated power and money with an understanding of the connections across issues and communities. This can mean supporting coalitions and networks; tending to the safety, security, and wellness needs of community organizations; and investing in capacity and leadership development, especially among communities who have been historically marginalized from having a voice in democracy. In Atlanta, community groups fighting the building of the police training facility, known as Cop City, have applied an ecosystem approach. The Southern Center for Human Rights offers legal and policy expertise, the Atlanta Community Press Collective brings much-needed community journalism, the Atlanta Solidarity Fund organizes bail relief for protestors who have been arrested, and groups like Community Movement Builders and New Disabled South focus on community organizing and coalition building.
• Invest in public finance solutions. The seeds for a more inclusive democracy can be found in public finance solutions in multiple communities. New York City’s public finance program helped elect the city’s most demographically representative council in 2021. Public financing helped Montgomery County, Maryland voters elect a racially diverse, majority female city council in 2022. Seattle’s democracy vouchers, enacted in 2015, have shown exponential increases in people participating in the program by choosing to use the vouchers toward their favored candidates.
When we follow this kind of money – fueling communities in realizing their dreams for a truly inclusive, multiracial democracy – we will see a much brighter and more hopeful picture of what democracy can be.
