Is the professionalization of politics a negative trend?
As it excludes volunteers and raises costs, yes. It helps decrease the accessibility of the political realm. However, there may be benefits to the citizenry from policy experts' input to politicians.
How valuable is input from the lowest income bracket?
The article posits that the missing voices are crucial because several government policies and programs affect them directly, so politicians need to hear from them. However, some might argue that these people are likely to be the least educated/informed in terms of decision-making about policies.
Did the Obama campaign actually represent a shift?
Many deemed his record-breaking 2008 fundraising a watershed moment, because it was built on many smaller donations, especially online. The image presented was that ordinary citizens could contribute $5-$25 and make a difference. Is this the way to make money-based participation more equal, or was it just hype?
When the authors cited the 20% increase in campaign contributions, I had the same thought about Obama's 2008 campaign. Although this article was from 2002, I think the ability to procure smaller donations via e-mail solicitation was already under way, and that is has only been expanded in years since, as was evident in Obama's campaign. I think it these small donations are definitely a way to equalize money-based participation in politics--to an extent. One large donation on the behalf of one wealthy individual still has the potential to outweigh the political voice of many who donate small amounts. But if nothing else, these small donations are able to attract attention to the political wishes of middle- and lower-class Americans, even if each financial contribution does not effect direct political action. Because of the success of these contributions to Obama's campaign, I imagine these types of contributions will continue so long as these ordinary Americans are able to envision the efficacy of their donations as they did during the Obama campaign--this will be the difficult task with the growing disillusionment with the federal government. It should also be acknowledged, however, that the ability to give even $5-$25 donations online requires both a credit card and computer access, which still excludes the poorest Americans. The conclusions drawn in the article still hold true for this group.
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