ABSTRACT
In this chapter, it is argued that because of our current campaign finance system and the impact of contributions on policy, we are effectively an oligarchy. The chapter begins with a distinction between democracy, oligarchy, and autocracy. It goes on to discuss how contributions are tantamount to legalized bribes and lead to corruption. Because of this bribery/corruption, it can be said that congress has become a corrupt institution that exhibits what some refer to as “organizational deviance.” In the end, the US is less a democracy today than it is an oligarchy.
