Selling Out America's Democracy : How Lobbyists, Special Interests, and Campaign Financing Undermine the Will of the People

by Moss, Alan L.

• ISBN13: 9780313345517
• ISBN10: 0313345511
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-05-30
• Publisher: Greenwood Pub Group

Summary

America's historic greatness is in decline, subverted by moneyed special interests and their lobbyists who take advantage of our system of campaign financing to thwart the will of the people. Monuments to the impact of factions include inadequate efforts to curb global warming, infrequent increases in the minimum wage, no universal healthcare, unchecked inner-city crime, and limited stem cell research. Ineffective political leadership, corroded by special interest manipulation, has landed the nation in foreign intervention that takes American lives and spends obscene amounts of U.S. resources. Moss portrays the motivations and methods of those who corrupt our political system and betray the legitimate interests of the American people. He quantifies the gains reaped by beneficiaries of lobbyist successes.

Author Biography

Alan L. Moss has served as an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow in the U.S. Senate, Chief Economist of the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division, and Adjunct Instructor in Economics at the University of Virginia's Northern Virginia Center.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
The Challenge	p. xiii
Democratic and Political Origin	p. 1
The Ideal of America's Democracy	p. 3
The History of Political Influence in the United States	p. 15
Perspectives of Political Players	p. 25
Views of Citizen Advocacy Staff	p. 27
Views of a Media Expert	p. 37
Views of a Thoughtful Washington Conservative	p. 43
Views of a Seasoned Washington Progressive	p. 55
Views of a Candid Washington Lobbyist	p. 67
Views of a European Diplomat	p. 77
The Leverage of Wealth	p. 83
Global Warming: The Specter of Climate Change	p. 85
Minimum Wage: Income Denied	p. 103
Stem Cell Cures Thwarted	p. 111
Health Care: Profit versus Public Well-Being	p. 119
Inner-City Crime Unabated	p. 137
Impact of Special Interests	p. 147
Beneficiaries of Moneyed Interests	p. 149
Policy versus National Interest	p. 163
Deteriorating Political Leadership and the Tragedy of Iraq	p. 175
A Plan to Revive America's Failed Democracy	p. 185
Why America's Democracy Is Failing	p. 187
The Way Out	p. 195
Notes	p. 203
Bibliography	p. 219
Index	p. 223
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