In response to Lawrence Lessig’s article on Citizens United, the Center for Competitive Politics’s Allison Hayward has published a piece in the Boston Review.
“„Lessig’s essay has deeper problems. His premise is that a properly functioning Congress, as structured by the framers, would be, per Federalist 52, “dependent upon the People alone.” Therefore, he reasons, the participation of special interests in campaigns corrupts Congress. This premise is wrong.
“„Lessig reads that line from the Federalist Papersout of context. Recall that in Federalist 51, Publius (a pseudonym for Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay) argued that checks and balances in government and society would help preserve the people’s liberty. Moreover, Publius noted, “If a majority be united by a common interest, the rights of the minority will be insecure.” It is not possible to square that fear of the tyranny of the majority with Lessig’s prescription that Congress be dependent on the people alone in order to serve the (necessarily majoritarian) “public interest.” In fact liberty, according to Publius, is served by competition among a multitude of interests.