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Title details for Le$terland by Lawrence Lessig - Available

Le$terland

by Lawrence Lessig
ebook
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The American political system has been foundationally weakened by a corrupt campaign funding system, creating a dangerously unstable and inequitable design that could destroy our republic — if we let it. In Le$terland: The Corruption of Congress and How To End It, Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig assesses the deep flaws in our campaign finance system and lays out a plan for fixing it. Lessig describes a place called "Lesterland," a fictional land with a population of 311 million people of whom the 144,000, named Lester are the people really in charge. It's the United States, of course, and Lesters are the 0.05 percent of Americans who fund the election. Lessig notes that just 132 Americans gave 60 percent of the SuperPAC money spent in the election cycle. It's these few, he says, who are our Lesters, and our dependence on them is perverting the democracy of the country. After all, if candidates have to spend 30 to 70 percent of their time trying to raise funds to get back to Congress, which they do, might that not affect their principles, their beliefs, their ideals, and what they're prepared to fight for on behalf of the people? It's time to change the system. Here's how.

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Publisher: TED Conferences

Kindle Book

  • Release date: June 26, 2013

OverDrive Read

  • ISBN: 9781937382346
  • Release date: June 26, 2013

PDF ebook

  • ISBN: 9781937382346
  • File size: 1450 KB
  • Release date: June 26, 2013

Formats

Kindle Book
OverDrive Read
PDF ebook
Kindle restrictions

subjects

Politics Nonfiction

Languages

English

The American political system has been foundationally weakened by a corrupt campaign funding system, creating a dangerously unstable and inequitable design that could destroy our republic — if we let it. In Le$terland: The Corruption of Congress and How To End It, Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig assesses the deep flaws in our campaign finance system and lays out a plan for fixing it. Lessig describes a place called "Lesterland," a fictional land with a population of 311 million people of whom the 144,000, named Lester are the people really in charge. It's the United States, of course, and Lesters are the 0.05 percent of Americans who fund the election. Lessig notes that just 132 Americans gave 60 percent of the SuperPAC money spent in the election cycle. It's these few, he says, who are our Lesters, and our dependence on them is perverting the democracy of the country. After all, if candidates have to spend 30 to 70 percent of their time trying to raise funds to get back to Congress, which they do, might that not affect their principles, their beliefs, their ideals, and what they're prepared to fight for on behalf of the people? It's time to change the system. Here's how.

Expand title description text
Politics Nonfiction