ALL Political Donations Are Political Corruption

This idea—All Political Donations Are Political Corruption—is fairly intuitive.

From a Voter Directed Democracy perspective, and from the perspective of the Online Political Evolution and democratic republicanism in general, all political donations constitute a level of political corruption. This is true whether the donation is small or large, legal or illegal, individual or institutional. It is true within the current U.S. party-driven system, and it would be true in any democratic republic that claims to represent the real Will of the People.

Let’s break this down.

All political donations come with an expectation.

Whether explicitly stated or implicitly understood, the act of giving money, goods, or services to an elected official—or to a campaign, party structure, lobbyist intermediary, or political action committee—comes with an expectation that a political decision, political action, or political inaction will follow.

That expectation is the point.

No one donates politically without expecting something in return. That “something” may be influence, access, favorable legislation, regulatory leniency, protection from accountability, ideological alignment, or silence. But there is always an expected outcome.

This is why all political donations are philosophically the same.

They are made with the intention of bending political power toward the desires of the donor. And that process—attempting to bend political power through unequal leverage—is inherently anti-democratic. It is inherently authoritarian. It is inherently disconnected from an openly, honestly, and transparently determined Will of the People.

Political power is supposed to flow from voters equally—not from money unequally.

Now, it is important to be precise and honest here.

When a voter scrapes together ten, fifteen, twenty, or even one hundred dollars to support a candidate they believe in, that is a very mild form of political corruption. It is understandable. It is human. It is often done with good intentions.

But philosophically, it is still corruption.

On the other end of the spectrum, when lobbyists, corporations, wealthy individuals, super PACs, and political machines exchange tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions, or even hundreds of millions of dollars for political influence—as has occurred in recent presidential elections—that is severe, extreme, and systemic political corruption.

The difference is not whether corruption exists.

The difference is the degree.

Mild.
Moderate.
Severe.
Extreme.

The amount of money, goods, or services exchanged determines the magnitude of the corruption—but not its nature.

And this is where the system reveals itself.

In the United States, an immense amount of political corruption is perfectly legal.

The party-driven system has normalized and legalized mild, moderate, severe, and even extreme forms of political corruption. While certain narrow categories remain illegal, the vast majority of influence-buying in American politics operates fully within the law.

This is not accidental.

The party-driven political system was designed this way. This is part of the party-driven problem that requires the voter directed solution.

Other democratic republics have recognized this reality and have chosen to severely restrict money in politics, understanding that political donations distort representation and undermine democratic legitimacy.

The U.S. party-driven system, by contrast, has opened the door wide—allowing money to dominate political outcomes while maintaining the illusion of voter control. This is why, for over a decade, political experts the U.S. and around the world have labeled the U.S. federal government as an oligarchy and Flawed Democracy. We have a democracy in theory- the U.S. Constitution still stands- but our social, political, and economic outcomes are oligarchic and continuously oppress voters and are relentlessly inconsistent with the real Will of the People.

So what is the solution?

Systemically, the solution is straightforward: limit the role of money in politics.

And the most effective way to do that is simple and principled:

Eliminate political donations entirely.

Because again—all political donations are political corruption.

Instead, elections should be publicly funded.

Under a publicly funded election system, candidates who meet a defined, voter-based threshold would receive an equal, fixed amount of funding. That funding would be the only money available to run their campaign. No private donations. No super PACs. No financial leverage. No unequal influence.

Just voters and ideas.

This is not a radical concept. It already exists in various forms in other democratic republics. And it is a fully viable, constitutional, and ethical solution.

It is also exactly the type of reform that becomes possible with the Online Political Evolution on Voter Directed Network—where transparency, equality, and accountability replace money, secrecy, and manipulation. Join us. ALL Voters Are ALWAYS Welcome!

When voters truly direct the system, money no longer controls politics.

And when money no longer controls politics, democracy and constitutional democratic republicanism finally has a chance to work as intended.

Thank you for reading,

AVK