Collection: For the People Act Analysis
Analysis of Voting Rights Protections, Campaign Finance and Ethics Reforms
The For the People Act would protect voters’ rights, combat voter suppression and gerrymandering, reform the legalized bribery enabled by our campaign finance system, and enact long overdue ethics standards.
To help raise awareness of its provisions, and to advocate for its passage, I analyzed the major sections of the For the People Act in the articles below. If you want to learn more about certain sections, click on the article for in-depth analysis, or read the summaries below for a brief overview.
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Part 1: Voting Rights
Voting Rights and the Assault on U.S. Democracy
Scholars of democracy are sounding alarms as Republican-led states are passing voter suppression bills. In the first article of my For the People Act analysis series, I outline a brief history of how this strategy had been used throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, how its latest incarnation is materializing in the twenty-first century, and what we could do to prevent it.
The voting rights provisions included fall under the following three categories:
Election access
Election integrity
Election security
Read more about voting rights and the assault on democracy by clicking the article preview below.
Part 2: Campaign Finance
Campaign Finance Reform and the Citizens United Decision
Some of the most pernicious, systemic flaws in our political structure are our campaign finance laws. They enable wealthy financiers to funnel contributions to politicians who will support their interests, obstruct the will of the people, and further entrench an anti-democratic oligarchy. Unless campaign finance reform is enacted, these same anti-democratic forces will continually seek to disenfranchise marginalized voters.
Throughout the second article in this series, I examine provisions in the For the People Act aimed at reforming our campaign finance laws, and I discuss how the Citizens United Supreme Court decision opened the floodgates to corruption just a decade ago. I also consider how different sources of campaign funds, such as large contributions from Super PACs vs. small donations from individuals, helps explain differences in how Joe Manchin and Bernie Sanders legislate in the Senate.
Read more about our broken campaign finance system by clicking the article preview below.
Part 3: Ethics
Coming Soon – Ethics Reform and the Obstructionists Preventing Progress
The next entry in this series will pick up where the campaign finance article left off by discussing similar provisions aimed at curbing corruption in our political system, but I also want to cover the obstructionists preventing such reform.
The central tool in the obstructionists’ toolkit is abusing the unconstitutional filibuster to prevent even debating certain legislation. I will discuss how the filibuster blocked the For the People Act, other parts of the Biden administration’s agenda, and how the filibuster could be reformed or abolished.
Read more about other future articles I plan to publish by clicking the article preview below.
Part 4: Compromise
Coming Soon – The Freedom to Vote Act and Unnecessary Compromise
On September 14, 2021, Senate Democrats announced a gutted version of the For the People Act called the Freedom to Vote Act. This bill still includes important provisions, but unnecessarily removes important sections from the original For the People Act.
While protecting voting rights would still be an impactful step forward, it is necessary to understand what—if anything—is being gained from compromises. Otherwise, if nothing is gained, Democrats are gutting their own legislation for the sake of undermining their own apparent agenda, which raises questions about their true motives and stated goals.
I will examine differences between this bill and the For the People Act, explore what could possibly be gained from compromise, and discuss the path to pass either bill.
Read more about other future articles I plan to publish by clicking the article preview below.
Economic Justice and the For the People Act
Representative democracy is essential to progressing towards a more just economy. Without voting rights, our voices won’t be heard in the halls of our government, and our descent towards kleptocratic oligarchy would undoubtedly accelerate.
Equitable campaign finance laws which prevent wealthy interests from drowning out the voices of working families are also imperative. In my view, we also need to realign our elected officials’ incentives with their constituents, so that their primary motivation is no longer to just govern in ways most likely to generate campaign contributions from wealthy financiers.
Ethics reforms which prevent other conflicts of interest, monetary or otherwise, are necessary for the same reasons as more equitable campaign finance laws. We also need to ensure increased transparency for those who don’t necessarily get elected, like the judiciary and lobbyists.
The For the People Act would deliver many of these vital protections and reforms, thereby paving the way towards a more just economy.
Feedback & Support
Do you agree that we need to protect voting rights, that we need to reform our corrupt campaign finance system, and that we should establish robust ethics standards to prevent conflicts of interest? Or do you disagree and think that only the wealthy should have a say in our government, and that they should be able to pilfer our public coffers while enriching themselves at our expense?
Whether you agree or disagree with my conclusions, I hope you learned something new after reading my newsletter, and I welcome constructive feedback. Feel free to leave a public comment or email me to share your thoughts.
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Thank you for reading my newsletter and taking the effort to learn about making the world a better place. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on how we can make progress towards a more just economy.
-JJ
Updated 9/17/2021 - Added background to banner and created new social media preview image