Lawrence Lessig on Campaign Finance Reform

The Politics Guys

Michael Baranowski

Politics, News

4.5 • 772 Ratings

🗓️ 26 July 2017

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Lawrence Lessig on Campaign Finance Reform Mike talks with Lawrence Lessig, the Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership at Harvard Law School. Prior to his time at Harvard, Professor Lessig clerked for not one, but two of Mike's intellectual heroes, Judge Richard Posner and Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Professor Lessig is the author of numerous books on law, commerce, culture, and ideas. His latest, Republic, Lost, Version 2.0, is a revised and expanded version of Republic, Lost, which Mike says is the best introduction to, and analysis of, not only campaign finance, but the fundamental incentives that drive public policy in the United States. Professor Lessig followed up on Republic, Lost with a major campaign to enact the reforms he believes to be vital to restoring American democracy, including launching a political action committee, giving a number of TED talks, and most notably, running for the Democratic Party's nomination for president in 2016. Professor Lessig Recommends Fifty Shades of Green: High Finance, Political Money, and the U.S. Congress. Thomas Ferguson, Jie Chen, Paul Jorgensen (http://bit.ly/2vCpW9P) Citizens Divided: Campaign Finance Reform and the Constitution. Robert C. Post (http://amzn.to/2vCShx5) Unlock Congress. Michael Golden (http://amzn.to/2vCMB66) Follow Lawrence Lessig on Twitter (https://twitter.com/lessig) Interested in supporting the show and getting even more Politics Guys content? Check out our Insiders program at https://www.patreon.com/politicsguys This week’s show is sponsored by: Brooklinen, where listeners get $20 dollars off and free shipping by using promo code tpg at https://www.brooklinen.com Casper, where Politics Guys listeners get $50 dollars toward any mattress purchase by visiting https://www.casper.com/tpgSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-politics-guys/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the politics guys. I'm Michael Baranowski, a political scientist at Northern Kentucky University.
0:30.5	My guest today is Lawrence Lessig, the Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership at Harvard Law School.
0:39.9	Professor Lessig is someone I've wanted to talk to for a long time because his work on campaign finance made a huge impact on how I see the issue and on how I talk about campaign finance to my students. Prior to his time at Harvard, Professor Lessig,
0:45.1	clerk for not one, but two of my intellectual heroes, Judge Richard Posner and Supreme Court
0:51.5	Justice Antonin Scalia. Professor Lessig is the author of numerous books on law, commerce, culture, and ideas.
0:59.7	His latest, Republic Lost, version 2.0, is revised and expanded version of Republic Lost,
1:05.8	which I think is the best introduction to and analysis of not just campaign finance, but the fundamental
1:12.7	incentives that drive public policy in the United States. And what I find particularly admirable
1:18.3	and courageous about Professor Lessig is that he has the courage of his convictions. You know,
1:23.7	most academics write a book and then move on. Professor Lessig followed up on Republic Lost with a major campaign to enact the reforms
1:31.6	he believes to be vital to restoring American democracy,
1:35.3	including launching a political action committee,
1:38.3	giving a number of TED talks,
1:39.6	and most notably, running for the Democratic Party's nomination for president in 2016.
1:45.4	Professor Lessig, welcome to the show.
1:48.1	It's great to be here.
1:49.1	Thanks for having me.
1:50.2	You know, I'd like to start with what I see as your sort of interesting ideological journey.
1:55.7	Early in your career, you clerked for two federal judges who are generally held in very
2:00.2	high esteem by many
2:01.6	conservatives, yet you ended up running for the Democratic presidential nomination. So what
2:07.8	accounts from your move from the right to the left? Well, Justice Scalia didn't hire me as
	...

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