A landmark ruling by the Supreme Court asks citizens to use the Internet to connect the dots between corporate influence and their political candidates.
Thursday’s ruling by the Supreme Court (large pdf) has serious implications on the future of US elections. In a 5-4 decision, the court ruled that corporations can spend money from their general treasuries to support political candidates.
This landmark decision overturns two legal precedents that have restricted the amount of influence corporations have in impacting the outcome of elections. The court believes that corporations are entitled to the same free speech rights as individuals.
The court recommends that citizens and shareholders of corporations use online campaign finance data to determine whether or not their candidates and corporations are too close for comfort.
The majority opinion says:
With the advent of the Internet, prompt disclosure of expenditures can provide shareholders and citizens with the information needed to hold corporations and elected officials accountable for their positions and supporters. Shareholders can determine whether their corporation’s political speech advances the corporation’s interest in making profits, and citizens can see whether elected officials are “‘in the pocket’ of so-called moneyed interests.
The court goes on to explain that this will be effective because “modern technology makes disclosures rapid and informative”. However, a leading non-profit, non-partisan research group that tracks money in politics says:
The current disclosure system is insufficiently “rapid and informative” and does not make effective use of modern technology.
We’ve previously reported on Government 2.0 and its efforts to make government data, such as Federal Election Commission disclosures, searchable and usable. The court’s mentioning of online campaign finance data further underscores its role as a pivotal part of accountability and basic research in our republic.
Fortunately, for all concerned citizens, there are some organizations that make it their mission to promote transparency in government, especially between political candidates and their donors.
1) Center for Responsive Politics
The Center for Responsive Politics is a nonpartisan, independent and nonprofit research group that focuses on tracking money and its effect on elections and public policy.
Their website OpenSecrets is the leading source for news and analysis on donations made to candidates from lobbying groups and industries. The site includes some useful sections such as Donor Lookup, Heavy Hitters, Get Local! and their Action Center.
The Donor Lookup is an interesting feature that allows you to simply enter your zip code and see a list of political donations made by individuals in your community.
2) Sunlight Foundation
The Sunlight Foundation is a non-profit organization that focuses on the digitization of government data and the creation of tools and web sites to make that data easily accessible for all citizens.
Sunlight Foundation offers transparency grants to organizations that use the Internet to make government information and data more accessible by the public.
They’ve funded organizations such as: Taxpayers for Common Sense, National Institute on Money in State Politics, OMB Watch, and MAPLight.org.
Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bootbearwdc / CC BY 2.0
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