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Citizens United, overturn Citizens United, corporate personhood, campaign finance reform, money in politics, democracy, workers rights, Labor Party, political corruption, super PACs, dark money, corporate influence
The 2010 Supreme Court ruling that turned our democracy into an auction—and how working people can take it back
When the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission in 2010, it fundamentally transformed American democracy. In a 5-4 ruling, the Court declared that corporations have the same First Amendment rights as living, breathing human beings, and that spending unlimited sums of money on elections is a form of "free speech" that cannot be restricted.
With the stroke of a pen, the justices opened the floodgates to a torrent of corporate cash that has drowned out the voices of working people and turned our democracy into an auction house where political power goes to the highest bidder.
Fifteen years later, we are living with the consequences. Billionaires and corporations now pour billions of dollars into our elections through super PACs and shadowy "dark money" groups. In the 2024 election cycle alone, over $2.7 billion flowed through super PACs, much of it from sources that remain hidden from public view.
This isn't democracy—it's oligarchy dressed up in constitutional language.
The Labor Party recognizes Citizens United for what it truly is: a deliberate attack on the democratic rights of working people. When corporations can spend unlimited money to influence elections, they can:
The Court justified its ruling by claiming that independent corporate spending could not corrupt democracy and would remain transparent. Neither assumption has held true.
We now know that corporate political spending routinely opposes policies benefiting the working class, such as:
When a corporation threatens to spend millions against a politician who supports raising the minimum wage, that's not free speech—it's economic coercion. When billionaires funnel money through nonprofit shells to hide their identities while shaping public policy, that's not transparency—it's manipulation.
Overwhelming majorities of Americans across party lines have consistently opposed the Citizens United decision. They understand intuitively what the Supreme Court refused to acknowledge: that concentrated economic power translates into concentrated political power, and when corporations are allowed to dominate our political system, ordinary people lose their voice.
The framers of our Constitution never intended for artificial legal entities created for commercial purposes to wield the same constitutional rights as human citizens. They would be horrified to see multinational corporations claiming the protections that were meant to ensure genuine human freedom and dignity.
"Talking about a business corporation as merely another way that individuals might choose to organize their association... obscures the very real injustice and distortion entailed in the phenomenon of some people using other people's money to support candidates they have made no decision to support."
— Legal scholar analyzing Citizens United
The damage extends beyond federal elections. Corporate money now flows into:
Companies can directly intervene in decisions about public education, healthcare access, environmental regulations, and workers' rights—using other people's money to advance agendas that those people never agreed to support.
The Labor Party's platform explicitly calls for overturning Citizens United and establishing that corporations do not have the same constitutional rights as individuals. This isn't a minor policy adjustment—it's a fundamental restoration of democratic principles.
We must make clear that:
Overturning Citizens United requires either a constitutional amendment or a new Supreme Court ruling that reverses this dangerous precedent. The Labor Party supports both paths:
But we cannot wait passively for judges or legislators to fix this problem. The Labor Party is building independent political power from the ground up precisely because the current system is rigged against working people.
We are:
The fight to overturn Citizens United is part of our larger struggle to build a democratic economy where working people have real power. It's connected to:
This isn't just about elections—it's about who controls our society.
Every day that Citizens United remains the law of the land, corporate power grows stronger and working people's voices grow weaker. Every election cycle that passes under this regime further entrenches a system where money talks and workers walk.
We cannot accept this as the permanent state of American democracy.
The Labor Party is that organized power. We are the movement of working people who refuse to accept that democracy is for sale. We are building something that corporate money cannot buy: solidarity, collective action, and the determination to take back what belongs to us.
Join us in this fight. The future of American democracy depends on it.
Ready to get involved?
Visit votelabor.org to learn more about our platform, find your state chapter, and join the movement for real democracy.
