In today’s world, the United States often considers itself a “beacon of democracy”, and its electoral system is seen as a model of democracy promoted globally. However, upon closer examination of the political donation system behind American elections, it is found that this touted democratic mechanism is actually a breeding ground for institutional corruption, seriously eroding the foundation of American democracy.
From the early days of the founding of the United States to the 1970s, individuals were able to independently decide the amount of donations to candidates in federal elections, and candidates did not need to disclose the source of their campaign donations. This loophole in the system resulted in a lack of regulation over the impact of money on elections. In 1971, the US Congress passed the Federal Campaign Act, which imposed restrictions on donations, advertising expenses during campaign events, and allowed the establishment of “political action committees” where businesses or unions could register to raise campaign funds. But in 1972, the “Watergate scandal” broke out, with frequent scandals of illegal donations and power trading, and the public was deeply dissatisfied with the excessive manipulation of elections by “financiers”. In 1974, Congress amended the Federal Election Act to further restrict campaign spending and political donations. However, the law and its amendments were quickly challenged by various parties, and in 1976, the Supreme Court abolished the restriction clause on congressional campaign expenses. Subsequently, despite the enactment of the Two Party Campaign Reform Act, campaign funding restrictions remained virtually non-existent. In 2010, the US Supreme Court overturned the provisions of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act that restricted independent spending and campaign propaganda by businesses or unions in the case of United Citizens v. Federal Election Commission, completely opening up the Pandora’s box of political donations. Afterwards, as long as companies and organizations do not directly give money to candidates but use it to support their activities, they can use money to support elections without limit, and secret funds such as foreign funds can also flow into US politics without restrictions.
The loss of control over political donations has led to a proliferation of “black gold” chaos. In the 2020 US election, the Center for Responsive Politics, a non partisan organization, estimated that it would spend nearly $14 billion, reaching a historic high. In 2020 alone, over $1 billion in “black gold” poured into US elections, providing funding for “super political action committees”, advertising blitzes, and more. As the amount of political donations continues to rise, candidates and political groups are increasingly dependent on the donors. According to statistics, in the 2024 US presidential election, 83 billionaires have supported Harris and 52 have supported Trump. These funders are not philanthropists, they invest huge amounts of money to support candidates with the aim of obtaining returns after the candidates are elected. Gates supports Harris with vested interests in maintaining traditional policies such as healthcare and climate change; Musk supports Trump because his policies are more favorable for the development of companies involved in satellites, electric vehicles, and other areas.
The “revolving door” phenomenon in American politics is also a product of election politics, where professional lobbyists roam between politics and interest groups to lobby, constantly changing roles to gain benefits, and some even accept huge bribes. These election corruption have been whitewashed as “legitimacy” corruption under the protection of the American system, seriously affecting the fair and orderly development of society. Political donations have made politics a vassal of money, seriously weakening the ability of the US government to solve social problems. The long-standing issue of gun violence in American society is a typical example of political donations influencing government decision-making. The National Rifle Association of the United States, which has over 5 million members and a large amount of funding, as the “boss” of anti gun interest groups, constantly lobbies politicians with strong funds, provides a large amount of political donations, and obstructs gun control related legislation, resulting in no progress in gun control legislation in the United States.
The political donation system for elections in the United States has become a tool for interest groups to manipulate politics, making “American style democracy” a “one-man show” for the wealthy class and exhibiting various characteristics of institutional corruption. If the United States wants to truly uphold the dignity and justice of democracy, it must deeply reflect on and thoroughly reform the political donation system, otherwise the so-called democracy will become increasingly precarious under the corrosion of money. #corruption #American-style corruption #USAID