| Republic, Lost | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Lawrence Lessig |
| Publisher | Twelve |
| Publication date | 2011 |
| Pages | 400 |
| ISBN | 978-0446576437 |
| OCLC Number | 707964996 |
| Preceded by | Remix |
Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress--and a Plan to Stop It is the sixth book by Harvard law professor and free culture activist Lawrence Lessig. Unlike his previous books, the book outlines what Lessig considers to be the systemic corrupting influence of special-interest money on American politics, and only mentions copyright and other free culture topics briefly, as examples.
Contents |
The central argument of Republic, Lost is that members of the US Congress are dependent upon funding from large donors. This dependency, according to Lessig, affects the ability of Congress to govern, whether or not donations actually change the way members of Congress vote on measures—a poll conducted for the book showed that 71% of Republicans and 81% of Democrats believed that "money buys results in Congress".[1] Lessig also points out Congress's low approval rating—11% as of the writing of the book (9% as of October 2011).[2]
Lessig illustrates his principle by discussing four situations, which he calls "The Tells": the complex system of subsidies and tariffs that have led to the rise of corn-fed beef and high fructose corn syrup in the American diet, the regulations governing pollution and copyright infringement, the existence of tenure for public school teachers, and the lack of regulation in the derivatives market. For each of the Tells, Lessig identifies what could be an illogical choice made over years of Congressional decision-making, and ends with a statement similar to the following:
[Ask] yourself one question only:
Not: Did the contributions and lobbying buy this apparently inconsistent result?
Instead: Do the contributions and lobbying make it harder to believe that this is a principled or consistent or sensible result?[3]
The middle chapters of the book describe in detail the system of lobbying in the US, along with possible explanations of the effects of special interest money on legislation, concluding that lobbying creates a gift economy that changes the way laws are made, and affects what laws are passed.
Lessig refers repeatedly to Robert Kaiser's book So Damn Much Money, which also discusses lobbying in Congress.
Lessig proposes four different possible methods of dismantling the alleged gift economy of special interests, lobbyists, and legislators.
Lessig supports the fourth strategy as the most probable to succeed.
In that vein, along with Tea Party leader Mark Meckler, Lessig held the Conference on the Constitutional Convention at Harvard University on 24 September 2011.[4] His keynote address was an abbreviated version of the content in Republic, Lost, and he reiterated his support for a new Constitutional Convention to propose amendments which would reduce the influence of lobbyists. Meckler did not support a Constitutional Convention in the end, claiming that the size and scope of the federal government was the true problem, rather than corporate influence.[5]
In conjunction with other efforts, Lessig has started an activist group called Rootstrikers.
Lessig made comments at Zuccotti Park in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street protesters, reiterating many of the points from Republic, Lost, and exhorted the Occupy movement to ally with the Tea Party movement to fight government corruption.[6]