Larry Lessig: The Corruption of the American Political System

Two years ago, I interviewed law professor, author, and Creative Commons co-founder Larry Lessig to discuss his work on institutional corruption and what he describes as the "economy of influence" in American politics. This week he was back in Durham, NC to discuss his new book, Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress—and a Plan to Stop It.

Nearly 100 people crammed into the basement of the matchbox-sized Regulator bookshop to hear Lessig read from his latest work and take questions about how to change the way money influences elections. The basic problem, he said, can be summed up with four numbers:

• 0.26% of Americans give more than $200 in a congressional election;
• 0.05% max out;
• 0.01% give more than $10,000;
• .000063% — 196 Americans — have given more than 80% of the superPAC money spent so far in this election...