Beyond the Environment, America's Representative Democracy at Risk (Op-Ed) (Live Science)

http://www.livescience.com/40526-american-representative-democracy-at-risk.html

Michael Brune is executive director of the Sierra Club. This Op-Ed was adapted from one Brune wrote for his blog Coming Clean. He contributed this article to LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

America's best idea is in trouble — but I don't mean our national parks. Yes, the parks were closed for more than two weeks, which is inexcusable. That was not only a crushing disappointment for millions of would-be visitors but also an economic gut-punch for neighboring communities — to the tune of $76 million dollars a day. But what remains under attack is something even older than our national park system: our representative democracy.

How did the United States reach a point where a small fraction of one party in one branch of government believes it was entitled to demand everything it wants, or else it would drive the entire government into the ground? It's like a firefighter standing on the hose to stop the rest of the company from putting out a blaze until he gets a million-dollar raise — all while the building burns around him.

The nation didn't reach this nadir of democracy by accident. It was the result of a systematic attack on the basic democratic principles of justice and equality by a handful of people who have no interest in a healthy, functioning republic. While there is no excuse, there is an explanation — with three major elements.

It starts with the money that has corrupted the U.S. Congress. The Supreme Court's Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision opened the floodgates that have allowed a tidal wave of corrupting corporate money into the American political system. But where is the money coming from and where is it going?