The Downfall of Democracy

The recent Supreme Court decision is reminiscent of the decisions passed during the Gilded Age that allowed big businesses (like Standard Oil) to dominant American politics

If this past week's Supreme Court decision did not cement the end of free choice and democracy, it at least dealt it a staggering blow. For hundreds of years, the Supreme Court has protected corporations. Mainly in the past, they have been defined as people and as such given the equal rights of a person. But by allowing companies to contribute an unlimited amount of money to campaigns, the very future of elections and democracy in this country will be changed (and not for the better).

When I heard about this monumental decision, I felt a nauseating pit growing in the center of my stomach. And this might not have been the case had I not recently read Chomsky and Herman's Propaganda Model, in particular the section on advertisements. Since newspapers and stations are incredibly expensive to operate, the power of advertising has grown tremendously. As the major form of revenue for media companies, advertisement agencies are able to dictate and control the media we receive and thus our definition of newsworthiness. This power is incredibly dangerous, as it shifts the essence of news from a civic service for the benefit of society to an instrument through which companies can bolster their profits.

And while it is a travesty that the five filters narrow the news and media we receive, it is even worse that soon they will be able to control the thing America prides itself on the most: democracy. With major corporations pulling in tens of billions of dollars a year, there is no doubt that they would be willing to drop a portion of that to ensure that candidates push forward their agendas. No longer will candidates be able to run on their values and leadership. Soon, the only people able to make it far in the elections will be the people with corporate backing. And by that point they will have been reduced from candidates to mere puppets of big business. And there is very little that other branches of the government can do about this decision. According to a recent Washington Post article, only a constitutional amendment would be able to overturn the effects of this decision. And if you've ever taken US history, you understand how daunting and difficult the challenge of proposing and ratifying an amendment is.

And apart from allowing domestic corporations to control America's elections, this decision will also allow foreign businesses to affect US politics. While foreign businesses are directly barred from exerting influence on US elections, they can use their subsidiary US companies to form political action committees. And through these committees, they can produce ads targeting or supporting candidates. If this turns out to be the case, Americans' beloved democracy could be influenced by places like Communist China.

In his majority opinion on the case, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote, "When government seeks to use its full power, including the criminal law, to command where a person may get his or her information or what distrusted source he or she may not hear, it uses censorship to control thought...This is unlawful. The First Amendment confirms the freedom to think for ourselves". But by passing this decision and protecting companies as people under the First Amendment, the Supreme Court has ensured that we will no longer be able to think for ourselves. Democracy as we know it is crumbling and soon not only our news will be controlled by corporations but also our politics. And if we allow that to happen, then the freedom that this country and the First Amendment were made to protect will be lost.

Works Cited:

The New York Times "Justices, 5-4, Reject Corporate Spending Limit"

The Washington Post "Campaign finance ruling leaves Democrats with few options"

The New York Times "The Court’s Blow to Democracy"

http://www.historyteacher.net/AHAP/images/BigBusiness.JPG