Journal Title
Tennessee Law Review
Volume
92
Issue
4
First Page
1061
Document Type
Article
Publication Information
2025
Abstract
What was designed as a constitutional republic, bound by self-rule and democratic accountability, has become an oligarchy camouflaged by the illusion of public sovereignty. The corporate architects of this new world order did not seize power through conquest or force: they legislated, litigated, and purchased it into existence. Oligarchic rule is more than a simple political crisis. It is a democratic one. Just as prior generations have been called upon to preserve the republic against threats to liberty, we now face our own defining challenge and must decide whether to accept a government auctioned to the highest bidder or reclaim the constitutional principles upon which this nation was founded. If we choose to fight for the republic, we must move swiftly before the American Oligarchy writes democracy out of our story entirely.
This Article examines how the American Oligarchy transformed economic power into political supremacy, exploiting the judicial dismantling of campaign finance regulation and the expansion of corporate rights to cement its position in the new political order of federal governance. As legislative bodies become increasingly dependent on corporate funding, policymaking shifts from public deliberation to boardroom negotiation, where corporate funded lobbyists draft legislation and industry titans dictate regulatory priorities. Corporate influence has only accelerated in the wake of the 2024 political restructuring, with the White House ushering in an unapologetic era of billionaire-backed agency control, corporate regulatory capture, and the increasing privatization of public governance. The rise of our American Oligarchy is not an accident of history but a failure of law that prioritized wealth over democracy. To counter this systemic imbalance, this Article proposes the TITANS Act, a novel federal antioligarchy measure designed to weaken corporate dominance in governance and reestablish the democratic accountability envisioned when our Founders brought forth a new nation conceived in liberty. Just as the echoes of our nation’s storied past fade at the hands of Father Time, each new generation grows more distant from the hardships endured to forge this great experiment we call “America.” Let us remain ever mindful that our Founders shared no greater fear than tyranny by the few—this Article proposes the legal foundation to prevent it.
Recommended Citation
Match Dawson, The American Oligarchy, 92 Tenn. L. Rev. 1061 (2025).