The U.S. Electoral-Industrial Complex: A Theoretical Exploration

• In Event: American Political Thought

Abstract

In his farewell address, Dwight D. Eisenhower lamented the rise of the “military-industrial complex” (MIC). Over the last 60 years, the suffix “-industrial complex” has been widely used (and, frankly, abused) to connote any undesirable mixing of private industry with public good. The result is that Eisenhower’s original point—that an MIC was dangerous because it removed the military from civilian democratic control, and that it threatened republican self-rule—has been lost. This paper proposes returning to Eisenhower’s core concerns with democratic principles by focusing on arguably the clearest example of this threat today: what I call the “electoral-industrial complex” (EIC). I contend that elections during the era of permanent campaigns have become self-perpetuating and self-justifying economies that are more effective at raising and spending money than generating political legitimacy.

Author

• Aaron Weinstein, Fairfield University