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Sparer keynote speaker links money and political inequality

November 10, 2015

Penn Law student organizers of the 2015 Sparer Symposium.
Penn Law student organizers of the 2015 Sparer Symposium.
Sparer Symposium keynote speaker Brenda Wright discussed the ever-increasing roll of money in politics and how this money creates political inequality.

By Maria Biery C’18

The Toll Public Interest Scholars held their annual Sparer Symposium on November 6 featuring keynote speaker, Brenda Wright, who discussed the ever-increasing roll of money in politics and how this money creates political inequality. She also discussed possible routes to campaign finance reform.

Wright currently serves as the Vice President of Policy and Legal Strategies at Demos, a public policy organization that works to reduce political and economic inequality. She is regarded as an expert in the areas of campaign finance reform, voting rights, redistricting, and election administration.

“We really can’t say that we’re living in a country of political equals,” Wright pointed out, when the median contribution to campaigns from the top one percent is almost equivalent to a teacher’s salary.

Wright went on to explain that the influence of the wealthiest donors “wouldn’t really matter if their preferences matched that of the general public,” but “unfortunately that’s not the situation that we have.”

The general public opinion, according to Wright, differs on key issues such as economic equality, and the policy preferences of the lower income households do not get enacted unless they coincide with the preferences of the wealthy.

Wright then remarked that, “Money in politics is a civil rights issue as well as an issue of equality.” She stated that black and Latino communities are underrepresented and that money in politics “creates barriers for candidates of color in even running for office.”

“If you don’t have the money,” she added, “you cannot enter the race with any effectiveness.”

Wright went on to address solutions to these problems with campaign financing. She advocated for plans to lower the ceiling and raise the floor for contributions, use public funds in the form of vouchers, match small contributions, install tax credits, or a constitutional amendment.

No matter what specific route, however, Wright believes that there is a need to break out of the corruption box, promote alternative frameworks for approaching money in politics, mobilize allies and the public to support alternative ideas, ensure that future justices share the public’s common-sense view of the Constitution, and defend reforms.

View the full Twitter feed from all #BuyingJustice panels.

Selected tweets from #BuyingJustice: