American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)
State capture is one of the most pervasive forms of corruption, where powerful individuals, corporations, or institutions influence laws that affect American citizens. One way these lobbying groups influence the law-making process is by funding political parties or candidates running for political office. Such funding is pegged on the condition that, once elected, the candidates or parties will support their interests. In some cases, these organizations go to the extent of fronting their candidates to run in elections to support their interests. The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is one of the lobbying platforms used to influence laws in the US. ALEC advances a broad swath of corporate and conservative policies with deadly impacts on Black and Brown minorities in the US.
History of The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)
Conservative activists and politicians, including Lou Barnett, Paul Weyrich, and Henry Hyde, cofounded ALEC in 1973. Henry Hyde was a Republican Congressman in Illinois during ALEC’s formation. The primary driver of forming ALEC was to empower state and local governments to make laws, effectively limiting federal government influence. These legislative objectives were embodied in the organization’s motto; limited government, open markets, and federalism (American Legislative Exchange Council, n.d.). The advocacy for a limited government is one of the controversial goals associated with ALEC. Through their pursuit of a limited government, the organization sought to encourage reduced state funding for social programs.
In its early years, ALEC focused on influencing social issues. Among the laws the organization advocated for include abortion rights, the Equal Rights Amendment, and gay laws. Later, ALEC joined the coalition of tort reforms, which received significant support from private insurance organizations. Tort laws sought to set an upper limit on damages insurance companies could award people in civil suits. Also, the lobbying organization collaborated with tobacco industry players to oppose the government’s ban on public smoking and regulation of the tobacco industry.
However, noting that most of its potential clients were not interested in social issues, ALEC shifted its focus to business regulation and criminal justice in the early 2000s. The organization has since opposed gun control laws, advocated for reduced labor union power, and opposed the government’s social programs targeting some of the most vulnerable members of society. These legislative actions disproportionately and adversely affect people of color, including Black and Brown communities.
ALEC’s Political Power and Legislation ALEC Supports
ALEC’s political power is pegged on its ability to bring together conservative legislators and representatives from corporations. Politicians pay minimal fees to join the organization, but corporations pay up to $25,000 to join (American Legislative Exchange Council, n.d.). After obtaining membership, all individuals have the same power. The law-making process involves the formation of task forces to focus on different topics including healthcare, education, and gun control, among others. These task forces create model bills which are later introduced at the state level. ALEC’s political power emanates from its influence on elected leaders who actively participate in the law-making process.
Legislation supported by ALEC is based on corporate and criminal justice interests. Corporate legislation supported by ALEC includes those seeking to reduce taxes on corporations and curb government regulation. The lobbying group has also sought to protect corporations from legal lawsuits from their employees (Baker, 2016). Besides, ALEC is seeking to help corporations make more profits by advocating for the privatization of public education.
Legislation Passed, Signed into Law, and Its Impact on Americans
The ‘stand your ground’ is one of the broader legislation whose passage was influenced by ALEC. The ‘stand your ground’ law is currently applicable in 28 states, and it allows the use of deadly force when one feels threatened, including in incidents such as robbery, arson, rape, murder, or kidnapping (McClellan & Tekin, 2012). The law allows one to shoot others whom they deem threatening. This law is contentious because a defense can argue to avoid prosecution of a murder offender by successfully arguing that they misjudged the seriousness of a threat. The law was initially adopted in Florida, a conservative state, but has since been adopted in 28 other states. One of the impacts of the law on American citizens is that it helps radical and racial supremacists get away with murder after targeting minority communities.
Another law is the charter school expansion. The law requires government funding for private schools, potentially leading to budget cuts in public schools (Baker, 2016). The expansion of charter schools is essentially designed to privatize public education. Low-income families who previously relied on government funding for public schools will lose subsidized education. Notably, most students classified as economically vulnerable mostly come from Black and Brown communities.
Conclusion
Political lobbying in the United States is behind the state capture that entrenches corruption and corporate interests. Interest groups such as ALEC finance political parties and candidates who return the favor by advancing laws that cater to their interests. ALEC advances conservative ideals that border around opposing gun control laws, privatizing public education, reducing corporate tax, and reducing the influence of labor unions, among other corporate interests. These legislations have disproportionately and adversely affected Black and Brown communities, some of whom form the greatest population of factory workers and beneficiaries of government-funded social programs.
References
American Legislative Exchange Council. (n.d.). American Legislative Exchange Council. Alec.org. https://alec.org/
Baker, B. (2016). Exploring the consequences of charter school expansion in U.S. cities Report. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED588750.pdf
Campos, N. F., & Giovannoni, F. (2006). Lobbying, corruption and political influence. Public Choice,131(1-2), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11127-006-9102-4
McClellan, C. B., & Tekin, E. (2012). Stand Your Ground Laws and Homicides. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2114885
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Question 
Research Paper 1
In lieu of ongoing events in our country, we are going to address the systemic issues within our political system. It is our elected officials who are responsible for creating the current policies and if we are unhappy with the policies in place, it is our responsibility to make a change at the voting polls. We must educate ourselves on the political platforms and organizations supporting our current officials and candidates alike.An example of an organization responsible, for policy support to elected officials, is the State Innovation Exchange (SiX). SiX partners with national and state partners to highlight issues like Black maternal health, equal pay, paid family and medical leave, student debt reform, as well as, other issues.Another example is the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). ALEC has a long history of undermining the rights and safety of people of color and working families by producing model bills for state policy-makers related to environmental regulation, voter ID laws, tax law, education reform, as well as, gun laws and the criminal justice system.
Research other organizations responsible for pushing through legislation to our elected officials or use one of the examples provided. The organization must be publicly funded and not an organization, under the federal government, or using tax dollars. A good rule to follow in order to identify a government organization using tax dollars it to review the URL. If it ends with .gov, tax dollars are used, so don’t use federally funded organizations. Be sure to identify the legislation passed through Congress, enacted into law, and the impact on American citizens.
Your essay must:
- Select an organization and summarize the history of the organization.
- Research their political power and legislation they continue to support.
- Identify the legislation passed through Congress, signed into law, and the impact on American citizens.
- Be sure to cite your resources which support your positions.
American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)
Follow these requirements when writing the short essay and remember that if you do not have first hand knowledge of the organization research unless a member, the information was obtained from outside sources and must be cited and entered into the bibliography:
- Complete your Research Paper using word-processing software such as MS Word, Open Office download free software at http://www.openoffice.org/). The document should be saved as a .doc or .docx.
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- The research topic should be included at the top of the paper.
- For assistance creating citations and bibliography using the Reference tab in MS Word, see the attached document: Developing Citations and Bibliography
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- The essay must logically develop the thesis in a way that leads to the conclusion, and must be supported by facts, fully explained concepts or assertions, and persuasive reasoning.
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- Your essay must cite at least one academic article found in the GSU Online Library and at least three other kinds of source (e.g., Supreme Court opinions, magazine or newspaper articles, the course textbook, and reliable websites). Wikipedia is not considered an acceptable resource.
- Use your own words. While brief quotes from sources may be used, altogether the total amount of quoted text must be less than twenty percent of the body of your essay.
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- The form of the title page, the body pages, and the reference page must comply with APA style. Additionally, the title page must include the course number and name, the instructor’s name, and the date submitted.
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