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Disrupting Political Campaigns
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Disrupting Political Campaigns

Shifting Influence from the Money to the Many

John Pudner, Heather Smith, Ben Rattray, Lucas Welsh, Heather McGhee and David Leonhardt
Aspen Institute, 2015
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Recommendation

The Internet has disrupted and democratized almost every facet of US society, except democracy itself. In the United States, political campaigning and fundraising remain stubbornly dysfunctional, skewed in favor of rich contributors. Aspen Ideas Festival’s panel of political experts discusses the importance of effecting change and proposes ideas on how to achieve a more participatory democracy. getAbstract recommends this provocative, nonpartisan conversation to political campaigners, politicians with small purses and voters who want to increase the volume of their voices.

Summary

Economic elites and corporations hold inordinate sway on the direction of United States’ public policy, while average citizens have little or no influence on the issues that affect them – the economy, national security and the environment, for example. Alas, the political system is set up to protect the interests of the privileged few, in defiance of the Founding Fathers’ vision of a republic “of the people, by the people, for the people.” Political candidates, who strive to get elected and stay in office, put their financial backers’ interests ahead of those of their constituents’. But change is afoot: Technological...

About the Speakers

Lucas Welch is the executive director of the Pluribus Project. David Leonhardt is managing editor of the Upshot website. Heather Smith is a former president of Rock the Vote. John Pudner is executive director of Take Back Our Republic. Heather McGhee is president of Demos. Ben Rattray is CEO of Change.org.

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