Learning Objectives for Lawrence Lessig’s Republic, Lost 1. Write at least one t

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Learning Objectives for Lawrence Lessig’s Republic, Lost

1. Write at least one to two well-developed paragraph(s) summarizing Lessig’s arguments about:

a. List and discuss at least five reasons Lessig identifies for why there is so much money currently being spent on congressional lobbying and campaigning.

b. Discuss Lessig’s two concepts of corruption.

c. Explain why transparency and anonymity are “two reforms that won’t work” according to Lessig.

d. Explain “the Grant and Franklin Project,” and discuss the pros and cons of this reform approach.

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Objectives for Lawrence Lessig was showing that Everybody should know and to recognition that ‘There is something wrong with the existing system,’ and that it needed to be updated—but we were making no progress in the context of policymakers. Gradually he realized the problem lay in the sclerotic, gridlocked policymaking system itself—particularly in Congress. “We weren’t making any progress because money was so inherent and tied to decisions,” he says now. “The public domain had no lobbyists. The ideas of the public domain weren’t even on the table because there was no infrastructure for putting them there.”

(a)- At least five reasons Lessig identifies for why there is so much money currently being spent on congressional lobbying and campaigning are
1- Illogical decision-making- Lessig illustrates his principle by discussing four situations, which he calls "The Tells": the complex system of subsidies and tariffs that have led to the rise of corn-fed beef and high fructose corn syrup in the American diet, the regulations governing pollution and copyright infringement, the existence of tenure for public school teachers, and the lack of regulation in the derivatives market. For each of the Tells, Lessig identifies what could be an illogical choice made over years of Congressional decision-making, and ends with a statement similar to the following.

2-Lobbying- lobbying has created a policymaking environment that now requires significant resources to get anything done. Which means that, with increasingly rare exceptions, the only possible policy changes on economic policy issues are those changes that at least some large corporations support.
3-Democracy Vouchers-Lessig supports "Democracy Vouchers", which would return to each citizen the first $50 in taxes each pays a Democracy Voucher worth $50 that could only be contributed to candidates or issue campaigns.The $50 would be chosen to exceed the sum of all money spent in the previous 2- or 4-year election cycle. Candidates and issue campaigns could get this money only if they agreed to accept only Democracy Vouchers and contributions capped at double this amount per individual or group contributor.

4-Strategies for improvement- Lessig suggested that the fourth strategy was the most probable to succeed. Lessig argued that a constitutional convention would get around debilitating Supreme Court decisions which allow virtually unrestricted campaign contributions under the banner of free speech.
5-A second Constitutional Convention- His keynote address was an abbreviated version of the content in Republic, Lost, and he reiterated his support for a new Constitutional Convention to propose amendments which would reduce the influence of lobbyists. Meckler did not support a Constitutional Convention in the end, claiming that the size and scope of the federal government was the true problem, rather than corporate influence.
(b)- Discuss Lessig’s two concepts of corruption
1- Individual corruption- Individual corruption occurs when an institution or its officials receive a benefit that does not serve the institution and provides a service through relationships external to the institution under conditions that reveal a quid pro quo motive.

2- Institution corruption- Institutional corruption occurs when an institution or its officials receive a benefit that is directly useful to performing an institutional purpose, and systematically provides a service to the benefactor under conditions that tend to undermine procedures that support the primary purposes of the institution.
(c)- why transparency and anonymity are “two reforms that won’t work” according to Lessig because To provide that public elections are publicly funded; to limit, and make transparent, contributions and independent political expenditures; and to reaffirm that when the Declaration of Independence spoke of entities ‘endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights’ it was speaking of natural persons only.
(d)-the Grant and Franklin Project,” and discuss the pros and cons of this reform approach are

PROS
-You can receive generous amounts of money.
-Once you have obtained one grant, you are more likely to receive others.
-Receiving grants is a good way to build your organization's visibility and credibility.
CONS
-You need to do time-consuming research on the granting agency before writing the grant.
-You need a person talented and experienced in writing grants who is also very familiar with your organization.
-Competition is fierce, and the success rate is low.
-There are strings attached to the money you receive. You can't do whatever you want with the funds.
-Most grants are short term. When they run out, you have to start over.

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