The Tyranny of the Powerful Minority & The Importance of Lobbying Reform

Over 200 years ago, the founding fathers provided us with the right to petition the government, i.e. to lobby, in the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States. This was done to guard against what Madison called the "tyranny of the majority." Today, however, I argue that we have a problem of the tyranny of the powerful minority, because our lobbying system gives voice to the rich and powerful while crowding out the very marginalized minorities Madison sought to protect. Possible ways to reform our lobbying system are henceforth discussed.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Lobbying
• Lobbyist
• Minorities
• James Madison
• tyranny of the majority
• Congress
• Obama
• Goldman Sachs
• Reform
• Constitution
• first amendment
• corruption

[dontchastop]

@dontchastop And in my opinion they already are more powerfull than half the electorate that actually votes. More people would vote if politicians did what they wanted them to do.

[dontchastop]

Thanks for your video. I've been thinking about the same ideas for a while now. Our legislative system was designed to be innefective, but the groups you've mentioed have taken advantage of the system. They seem to have the last word on every Congressional law. The one thing you didn't mention is that the mainstream media isn't reporting on the backroom deals between lobyists and lawmakers. They report on them after-the-fact, but the information gets little attention.