Especially since the infamous Citizens United case, we hear a lot about the political influence of Big Money. Corporations and vastly wealthy individuals pour tens of millions of dollars into statewide and national campaigns. What we don't hear a lot about is the pervasive political influence of Small Money. That's the subject of the new book, Five Dollars and a Pork Chop Sandwich: Vote Buying and the Corruption of Democracy. The author is Mary Frances Berry, former Chair of the US Commission on Civil Rights. She is a Professor of American Social Thought and History at the University of Pennsylvania.
