James A. Leach: “One aspect of this relates to an old-fashioned word used in the 19th century, not much in the 20th, and that is the word…”

“One aspect of this relates to an old-fashioned word used in the 19th century, not much in the 20th, and that is the word ``oligarchy.'' As systems of governance become based upon a few influencing the many, they are called oligarchies and they are not democracies. Democracy is what is at issue today. The second trend that is extraordinary is that our Founding Fathers thought of a system of governance in which people would be elected from various parts of the country and bring to Washington the background of that part of the country. But as campaign giving is nationalized, attitudes are nationalized, and what we are seeing is the nationalization of elections. Instead of people becoming first and foremost accountable to the people in their districts, they are becoming first and foremost accountable to the people that influence the people in their districts.”