Chrystia Freeland’s review of Al Gore’s newest book, “The Future: Six Drivers of Global Change,” takes special care to point out Gore’s indictment of the corruption of the American political system by big money as “both the most compelling and the most depressing part of the book.”

Gore spends much of the book arguing that the present day is distinguished by an unprecedented rate of change, from technological innovation to rapid climate disruption. While this “hyper-change” as he calls it necessitates a vast political response at both the national and international levels, Gore fears that the necessary mobilization is impossible in America’s “functionally corrupted” democracy, where big donors call the shots.

As Freeland writes:

[H]is point is serious and bold: “The United States Congress, the avatar of the democratically elected national legislatures in the modern world, is now incapable of passing laws without permission from the corporate lobbies and other special interests that control their campaign finances.”

… He describes the American political system as a “quarterly democracy,” explaining that the requirement for 90-day public reporting of fundraising has created a cycle in which every three months, lawmakers madly raise money, partly in a show of force to scare off rivals. Perhaps not surprisingly for a man whose bid for the presidency was frustrated by the Supreme Court, Gore lays much of the blame for America’s hacked democracy with the nation’s top judges and tells a detailed story of the corporate legal takeover, starting in the 1970s with the opinions of Justice Lewis Powell, who “created the novel concept of ‘corporate speech.’ ”

Many have spoken about the “wealth primary” that a politician must do well in to advance on to the actual election, winnowing down candidates to those most likely to hold the views of the wealthy individuals and special interests that fund campaigns. The “quarterly democracy” that Gore refers to makes clear how bad the problem is: every three months, campaign donors are the most important factor in a representative’s quest to win election. Voters only hold that status once every few years, on Election Day.

That second-class status surely doesn’t befit citizens of a country defined by phrases like “all men are created equal” and “one person, one vote.” Perhaps that’s why Gore included in his presidential platforms “100 percent public financing for all federal elections,” which would allow voters—not funders—to be the main drivers of democratic decision making.