I am pleased to welcome Ciara Torres-Spelliscy to the ELB Book Corner, writing about her new book Corporatocracy. This is the final of four posts:

What makes the money in politics hard to trace is the tendency of corporations to give to umbrella groups like the Senate Leadership Fund (run by Republican senator Mitch McConnell), the Congressional Leadership Fund (run by then-speaker Kevin McCarthy), or state-focused groups like the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA), Republican Governors Association (RGA), and Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC). Many of these groups give to each other in a never-ending shell game. For example, in 2022, Leonard Leo’s Judicial Crisis Network was RAGA’s biggest donor. Giving to Republican umbrella groups lends corporate donors a degree of plausible deniability when the politicians they support go rogue or get mired in a scandal.

These groups also act as financial pass-throughs for other more radical groups, like the Rule of Law Defense Fund (RLDF), which is an offshoot of RAGA. If a corporation gives to RAGA, they can deny that they funded RLDF. When looking at the flow of money in politics, one thing to remember is that money is fungible. Once cash goes into an umbrella political group, it’s hard to trace, but keep an eye on the big picture: corporate money is pouring into groups that support 2020 election deniers, electoral vote objectors, and lawmakers who are making it harder to vote in the United States in the future.

Another reason to take corporate political preferences seriously is the impact that the largest corporations often have on policy. As Delaware Justice Leo Strine notes, “not only do corporations have an advantage when it comes to getting their preferred candidates in office, but they have an advantage in steering the regulatory process as well. Regulators are deferential to industry input, and corporations use their huge financial advantage to dominate the regulatory and rule-­ making process, and to tie up agencies in litigation if they do not get their way.”

Corporatocracy gives citizens, consumers, investors, and corporations a different lens through which to consider decisions. If a decision or course of action would lead to failing the Democracy Litmus Test, that provides a strong reason not to do it. The more consumers care about democracy, the more they can use their buying power to incentivize corporate political spenders and politicians to take pro-democracy stances. Similarly, investors should steer their investment dollars to companies that are part of the democracy solution and not part of problem. Consumer and investor pressure, along with electoral engagement, can push the election deniers to the margins by starving them of the money they need to amplify their lies.

But that is not the only path America could walk down. The more that the election deniers are elected or reelected, the more corporate lobbyists and corporate leaders will kowtow to please the election deniers’ worldview. The more that election deniers are elected, the more normal their views will become. After all, of the 147 Republicans that voted to not recognize Biden’s electoral college votes, Kevin McCarthy (followed by Michael Johnson) and Steve Scalise had more power two years later than they did on January 6, 2021. They became the speaker of the House (followed by the speaker of the House) and the majority leader in 2023. The longer they remain in power, the more rational it seems to a corporate donor to just “give to the incumbent.”

If you’d like to learn more, then please read Corporatocracy or listen to my new radio show Democracy & Destiny.