Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Small-dollar gifts hardly a cure-all for money’s smear on politics, one professor argues

Small-dollar gifts hardly a cure-all for money’s smear on politics, one professor argues

Howard Dean and Barack Obama pioneered the drive for small-dollar contributors. Now, such donations have become an important measuring stick and may be contributing to increased polarization.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The explosion of small-donor political contributions is often celebrated and extolled as one of the few positive developments amid all the problems facing the democracy reform movement.

Not so fast, argues New York University law school professor Richard Pildes. In a new essay published in the Yale Law Journal Forum, he argues the proliferation of modest contributions to candidates may be contributing to more political polarization and, at least, requires more careful examination.

Pildes also says the proposals to promote more small-donor giving that are part of the House Democrats' comprehensive political process overhaul, known as HR 1, could have unintended negative consequences.


"Small donors are seen as purifying forces who will reduce political corruption and the influence of large donors, make politics more responsive to the 'average' citizen and encourage more widespread political participation," he writes in describing the surge in online giving to presidential and congressional candidates in amounts below $200, the cutoff for full disclosure of a donor's identity.

"While we now worry about whether democracy writ large can survive the internet, many think the internet can guide us toward salvation when it comes to the role of money in elections," he wrote. "The question posed here is whether the concerns that have emerged about the internet and democracy should suddenly disappear when it comes to fundraising, or whether we need to reflect more on how those same concerns might also apply to the internet's empowerment of small donors.

The increase in the number of people giving small amounts is a fairly recent phenomenon, beginning in 2004 with Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean and then growing dramatically in Barack Obama's two campaigns.

In time for last year's midterm elections, the small-donor phenomenon expanded to congressional races, with Democratic candidates benefitting more than Republicans. Democratic Senate candidates raised more than a quarter of their funds from small givers and the party's House candidates raised 16 percent of their cash that way.

Much of the credit goes ActBlue, a Democratic-backing online giving platform, which Republicans have now replicated with WinRed.

Pildes points out that the number of small donors has now become a criteria that Democratic presidential candidates must meet in order to qualify for televised debates. But, he says, it actually costs some of these candidates more to attract these small donors than the amount they raise.

Of greater concern, he said, is whether the growth in small donors contributes to political polarization. One major study, he said, found that small donors contribute more to ideologically extreme candidates than did other individual donors.

For the professor, one worrying aspect of the House-passed but Senate-stymied HR 1 — and similar proposals made by some Democratic presidential candidates — is the idea of providing federal matching funds to candidates based on their success with small-dollar contributions. Doing that, he argued, could exacerbate the negative impact of small giving.

He concludes that proponents of small donations are so focused on one dimension of a problem that they "can develop tunnel vision that obscures the costs of their reforms along other dimensions of democracy."

Read More

Entertainment Can Improve How Democrats and Republicans See Each Other

Since the development of American mass media culture in the mid-20th century, numerous examples of entertainment media have tried to improve attitudes towards those who have traditionally held little power.

Getty Images, skynesher

Entertainment Can Improve How Democrats and Republicans See Each Other

Entertainment has been used for decades to improve attitudes toward other groups, both in the U.S. and abroad. One can think of movies like Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, helping change attitudes toward Black Americans, or TV shows like Rosanne, helping humanize the White working class. Efforts internationally show that media can sometimes improve attitudes toward two groups concurrently.

Substantial research shows that Americans now hold overly negative views of those across the political spectrum. Let's now learn from decades of experience using entertainment to improve attitudes of those in other groups—but also from counter-examples that have reinforced stereotypes and whose techniques should generally be avoided—in order to improve attitudes toward fellow Americans across politics. This entertainment can allow Americans across the political spectrum to have more accurate views of each other while realizing that successful cross-ideological friendships and collaborations are possible.

Keep ReadingShow less
Close-up of military man holding hands with his therapist during counseling at mental health center.

PTSD Awareness Day is not only a time to advocate for veterans' mental health but also an opportunity for all Americans to reflect on the emotional responses triggered by political division.

Getty Images, Drazen Zigic

National PTSD Awareness Day: A Call to Action for Veterans and Civil Discourse

Each year on June 27, National PTSD Awareness Day shines a light on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), encouraging those affected to seek support. This observance was officially recognized by the U.S. Senate in 2010, following an initiative by Senator Kent Conrad to honor a North Dakota National Guard member who tragically took his own life after serving two tours in Iraq.

PTSD can develop after experiencing or witnessing traumatic events such as combat, assault, accidents, or natural disasters. Its symptoms—ranging from flashbacks and anxiety to mood swings and avoidance behaviors—can be deeply disruptive. PTSD Awareness Day is part of PTSD Awareness Month, which spans the entire month of June, promoting education, treatment options, and community support for those affected.

Keep ReadingShow less
International Students Cope With Growing Mental Health Issues
woman in brown sweater covering her face with her hand
Photo by Dev Asangbam on Unsplash

International Students Cope With Growing Mental Health Issues

Maeve Zhu, an undergraduate at the University of Washington, said moving to Seattle with hopes of studying computer science quickly became overwhelming.

"The hardest part for adjusting to life in the U.S. as an international undergrad was also my first year living overseas alone without my parents around me," said Maeve Zhu, an undergraduate at UW. "Trying to manage your time, your money, and your energy, all while being so lonely, the first year felt like living in a nightmare."

Keep ReadingShow less