Captured - by Sheldon Whitehouse (Hardcover)

About the Book

"In Captured, U.S. Senator and former federal prosecutor Sheldon Whitehouse offers an eye-opening take on what corporate influence looks like today from the Senate Floor, adding a first-hand perspective to Jane Mayer's Dark Money. Americans know something is wrong in their government. Senator Whitehouse combines history, legal scholarship, and personal experiences to provide the first hands-on, comprehensive explanation of what's gone wrong, exposing multiple avenues through which our government has been infiltrated and disabled by corporate powers. Captured reveals an original oversight by the Founders, and shows how and why corporate power has exploited that vulnerability: to strike fear in elected representatives who don't "get right" by threatening million-dollar "dark money" election attacks (a threat more effective and less expensive than the actual attack); to stack the judiciary--even the Supreme Court--in "business-friendly" ways; to "capture" the administrative agencies meant to regulate corporate behavior; to undermine the civil jury, the Constitution's last bastion for ordinary citizens; and to create a corporate "alternate reality" on public health and safety issues like climate change. Captured shows that in this centuries-long struggle between corporate power and individual liberty, we can and must take our American government back into our own hands"--

Book Synopsis

A U.S. senator, leading the fight against money in politics, chronicles the long shadow corporate power has cast over our democracy

In Captured, U.S. Senator and former federal prosecutor Sheldon Whitehouse offers an eye-opening take on what corporate influence looks like today from the Senate Floor, adding a first-hand perspective to Jane Mayer's Dark Money.

Americans know something is wrong in their government. Senator Whitehouse combines history, legal scholarship, and personal experiences to provide the first hands-on, comprehensive explanation of what's gone wrong, exposing multiple avenues through which our government has been infiltrated and disabled by corporate powers. Captured reveals an original oversight by the Founders, and shows how and why corporate power has exploited that vulnerability: to strike fear in elected representatives who don't "get right" by threatening million-dollar "dark money" election attacks (a threat more effective and less expensive than the actual attack); to stack the judiciary--even the Supreme Court--in "business-friendly" ways; to "capture" the administrative agencies meant to regulate corporate behavior; to undermine the civil jury, the Constitution's last bastion for ordinary citizens; and to create a corporate "alternate reality" on public health and safety issues like climate change.

Captured shows that in this centuries-long struggle between corporate power and individual liberty, we can and must take our American government back into our own hands.

Review Quotes

Praise for Captured:
"Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island has built his career around the seemingly unrelated issues of climate change and money in politics. His new book reveals how intimately connected they turn out to be."
--Jeffrey Toobin, The New Yorker

"No, U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse doesn't believe that corporations are people. No, he doesn't think that corporations are bad. But, yes, he does want them out of American politics."
--The Boston Globe

"An eye-opening take on what corporate influence looks like today."
--Publishers Weekly

"Tells hard truths about the central threat posed by the role of the rich . . . and how it is overwhelming democracy."
--Liz Kennedy, Center for American Progress

"An extraordinarily intelligent and wide-ranging critique of the current state of our political and economic affairs. This book reminds me distinctly of the great muckraking texts of the progressive era--texts that really shook up the status quo in the American polity and economy. And I truly believe that this book has the potential to be one of those much needed historic calls-to-action. . . . Bravo!"
--William Novak, Charles F. and Edith J. Clyne Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School

Praise for Senator Sheldon Whitehouse:
"Sheldon Whitehouse is one of the most respected and thoughtful progressives in the Senate. His energy and enthusiasm make him a powerful voice in defending our American democracy against the relentless, pervasive--and often hidden--power of corporate special interests."
--Senator Elizabeth Warren

"For climate activists--or really anyone who thinks climate change is a problem--there's a lot to love about Senator Sheldon Whitehouse."
--Think Progress

"An elected official who speaks the truth."
--Janet Larson, Earth Policy Institute

About the Author

Sheldon Whitehouse represents Rhode Island in the U.S. Senate. He has served as a federal and state prosecutor, business regulator, courtroom litigator, environmental advocate, and government reformer. Boston-based writer Melanie Wachtell Stinnett is a former Director of Policy & Communications for the Tobin Project.