As pro-democracy protests spread across Massachusetts and the nation, many still overlook a primary ailment of our broken democratic system: in today’s elections, the candidate with the most money almost always wins. Campaign finance reform seems impossible, especially since the 2010 Supreme Court decision, Citizens United, which ruled corporate spending limits unconstitutional. As a result of Citizens United, political power in America has shifted dramatically towards wealthy corporations and billionaires. Americans on all sides of the aisle have lost trust in our democratic process — a February poll found that 72% of Americans see money in politics as a “very big problem,” more than any other issue polled.

However, change is possible. I just began volunteering with American Promise, a nonpartisan organization working to ratify the For Our Freedom Amendment, which would restore the ability to regulate election spending. By passing this amendment, we can ensure our government will more accurately reflect and respond to the will of the people — a huge first step in fixing our broken democracy.

Massachusetts has already passed a resolution in support of the amendment, but it needs at least 15 more states and two-thirds of Congress to achieve ratification. That may seem daunting, but momentum is growing. Utah just became the 23rd state to call for the amendment this past month. I encourage you to learn more about the issue and get involved at americanpromise.net.

Eli Tannenbaum

Amherst