Captured: The Corporate Infiltration of American Democracy

by Sheldon Whitehouse, Melanie Wachtell Stinnett (With)

Overview

A leading member of the Senate Judiciary Committee "spells out, in considerable detail, the extent of corporate influence over a variety of issues" in national politics (The New Yorker)

As a U.S. senator and former federal prosecutor, Sheldon Whitehouse has had a front-row seat for the spectacle of dark money in government. In his widely praised book Captured, he describes how corporations buy influence over our government— not only over representatives and senators, but over the very regulators directly responsible for enforcing the laws under which these corporations operate, and over the judges and prosecutors who are supposed to be vigilant about protecting the public interest.

In a case study that shows these operations at work, Whitehouse reveals how fossil fuel companies have held any regulation related to climate change at bay. The problem is structural: as Kirkus Reviews wrote, "many of the ills it illuminates are bipartisan."

This paperback edition features a new preface by the author that reveals how corporate influence has taken advantage of Donald Trump's presidency to advance its agenda—and what we can do about it.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781620974766
Publisher:	New Press, The
Publication date:	05/21/2019
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	106,048
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Sheldon Whitehouse represents Rhode Island in the U.S. Senate. He has served as his state's United States Attorney and as the state Attorney General, as well as its top business regulator. Sheldon worked for years as a young staff lawyer in the Attorney General's office. He has been a successful and unsuccessful political candidate, held several senior staff positions for a governor, run local referendum races, and been a longtime environmental advocate. He has led government reforms, most significantly an overhaul of the state workers compensation system, a "separation of powers" constitutional reform, and an opening of state pension records. He has practiced law, tried cases to a jury, argued appeals (including in the United States Supreme Court), and litigated in federal and state administrative agencies. Sheldon grew up in a Foreign Service family. He lives in Newport with his wife, a marine scientist, and his grown children when they visit.Melanie Wachtell Stinnett is a Boston-based writer and former Director of Policy and Communications at the Tobin Project. She has previously published on regulatory policy and Supreme Court litigation trends.

Table of Contents

Preface to the Paperback Edition xi

Introduction xvii

Chapter 1 The Constitution's Blind Spot 1

Chapter 2 The Growth of Corporate Power 11

Chapter 3 Where We Are Now 24

Chapter 4 What the Corporate Political Machine Wants: Four Short Case Studies 48

Chapter 5 The Powell Memo and the Corporate Strategy 63

Chapter 6 Capture of the Court 77

Chapter 7 Capture of Elections: Citizens United 93

Chapter 8 Capture of Regulatory Agencies 114

Chapter 9 Capture of the Civil Jury 133

Chapter 10 The Denial Machine 150

Chapter 11 Climate Change and the "Flies of Summer" 169

Chapter 12 America's Lamp in Peril 186

Postscript 191

Author's Note 205

Acknowledgments 207

Notes 209

Index 245

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Captured:
“Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island has built his career around the seemingly unrelated issues of climate change and money in politics. His new book reveals how intimately connected they turn out to be.”
—Jeffrey Toobin, The New Yorker

“No, U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse doesn't believe that corporations are people. No, he doesn't think that corporations are bad. But, yes, he does want them out of American politics.”
—The Boston Globe

“An eye-opening take on what corporate influence looks like today.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Tells hard truths about the central threat posed by the role of the rich . . . and how it is overwhelming democracy.”
—Liz Kennedy, Center for American Progress

“An extraordinarily intelligent and wide-ranging critique of the current state of our political and economic affairs. This book reminds me distinctly of the great muckraking texts of the progressive era—texts that really shook up the status quo in the American polity and economy. And I truly believe that this book has the potential to be one of those much needed historic calls-to-action. . . . Bravo!”
—William Novak, Charles F. and Edith J. Clyne Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School


Praise for Senator Sheldon Whitehouse:
“Sheldon Whitehouse is one of the most respected and thoughtful progressives in the Senate. His energy and enthusiasm make him a powerful voice in defending our American democracy against the relentless, pervasive—and often hidden—power of corporate special interests.”
—Senator Elizabeth Warren

“For climate activists—or really anyone who thinks climate change is a problem—there's a lot to love about Senator Sheldon Whitehouse.”
—Think Progress

“An elected official who speaks the truth.”
—Janet Larson, Earth Policy Institute

From the Publisher

In this provocative audiobook, Sheldon Whitehouse, a U.S. Senator from Rhode Island, provides an insider’s account of how corporate and moneyed interests have insinuated themselves into our government. His main point is that the Founders didn’t see how the economy and corporations would change to the point where they could influence elections and policy. Michael Bybee is the main narrator, while Senator Whitehouse reads the introduction and author’s note. Of the two, Whitehouse has the more energetic, captivating voice. Bybee is far more subdued and unemotional, and the audiobook tends to drag when he’s reading. Perhaps Whitehouse should have trusted his Senatorial debating voice and narrated the whole book. R.I.G. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine

OCTOBER 2017 - AudioFile

In this provocative audiobook, Sheldon Whitehouse, a U.S. Senator from Rhode Island, provides an insider’s account of how corporate and moneyed interests have insinuated themselves into our government. His main point is that the Founders didn’t see how the economy and corporations would change to the point where they could influence elections and policy. Michael Bybee is the main narrator, while Senator Whitehouse reads the introduction and author’s note. Of the two, Whitehouse has the more energetic, captivating voice. Bybee is far more subdued and unemotional, and the audiobook tends to drag when he’s reading. Perhaps Whitehouse should have trusted his Senatorial debating voice and narrated the whole book. R.I.G. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine

OCTOBER 2017 - AudioFile

2016-12-07
A United States senator argues that "there is virtually no element of the political landscape into which corporate influence has not intruded." Whitehouse is in a similar position to Bernie Sanders before the last primary campaign: a little-known Democratic senator from a small northeastern state (in this case, Rhode Island) sounding the alarm about the pervasive influence of corporate dollars on American politics. Since his co-author, Stinnett, is also more of a policy specialist than a writer who can humanize these issues, the book reads more like a legal brief or a series of position papers. Yet they are persuasive, particularly for Democrats of a populist bent. Whitehouse continually stresses that corporate money "is usually the strongest political force arrayed in any part of [the political] landscape." He shows how the insidious influence of money extends from PACs to lobbyists to the Supreme Court and how Republicans in particular have succumbed to the lure of filthy corporate lucre. Since the book was well into the publication cycle before the surprising triumph of Donald Trump, skeptics might wonder how Trump prevailed over the likes of Jeb Bush (who benefitted heavily from corporate backing and PAC support) and then Hillary Clinton (who did as well). The author twists himself into a pretzel as he attempts to show how the Supreme Court's upholding of the Affordable Care Act actually advanced a corporate conservative agenda. Yet it's hard to dispute so many of these assertions—e.g., how "the right pursues eliminating the estate tax, which only about 0.2 percent of the very wealthiest Americans—those whose estates are worth more than $5.45 million—will ever have to pay"; how corporation funding has fought tobacco warnings and climate change alike with pseudo-science and public relations lies; or that "corporate money is calling the tune in Congress." The book reads more like a Democrat's attack on Republicans, but many of the ills it illuminates are bipartisan.

Kirkus Reviews