The tide of money swelling around the American political system continues to rise. In 2016, candidates running for federal office spent a record $6.4 billion on their campaigns, while lobbyists spent $3.15 billion to influence the government in Washington. Both sums are twice that of 2000 levels.

So what does all that money buy? No one seriously thinks that the quality of American representative democracy has doubled in value. Has it instead become doubly corrupt?

The United States has long maintained a freer approach to political financing than other Western democracies, in part because the country is big, campaigns are long and political advertising on television is essential and expensive. In many European countries, strict limits are placed on campaign spending or contributions, campaigns are kept short and paid political advertising on television is restricted or outright banned.

Since the Supreme Court’s landmark 2010 ruling in the Citizens United case, campaign spending in the United States has become even more unrestricted. Today, commentators in Europe often describe the American way as “legalized corruption.” In the United States, veterans of campaign finance reform despair at the ground lost since the 1970s, when the Watergate scandal ushered in a series of controls on campaign contributions.