1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

Princeton and Northwestern researchers studied nearly 2,000 policy proposals spanning two decades and reached a damning conclusion: average citizens have little to no independent influence on US public policy. Economic elites and organized interest groups drive outcomes. The rest of us only get what we want when it happens to align with what wealthy donors and lobbyists want anyway. That is not democracy. That is a system rigged against ordinary people. This research makes clear that the problem is structural, not incidental. When 90th-percentile earners and their aligned interest groups oppose something, it rarely passes regardless of how broadly the public supports it. I expect you to take concrete action to fix this: support campaign finance reform, close the revolving door between lobbying and public office, and back full transparency in donor disclosure. The evidence is in. The question now is whether you represent your constituents or your donors.