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The Cardboard Box Reform - Nixon's Ghost Bill & A Crucial Flaw in Democracy

CRI · lecture · Watch on YouTube

US politics & electionsLaw, policing & justice

What it is

James D'Angelo argues that the 1970 Legislative Reorganization Act made congressional votes public, opening the door to lobbyists and special interests. He proposes restoring secret voting as a cheap fix for corruption and many social ills.

Why Hacker News recommends it

HN commenters recommend it as a long, evidence-backed theory for what changed in the 1970s and why Congress is broken, even when they are unsure they agree.

  • 9 people recommended it
  • 10 different months
  • 3 strong recommendations
  • first 2014, last 2025

What HN commenters said

  1. “I highly recommend everyone watch this whole video here. It's an eye opener about many things”

    Argues congressional vote transparency is the root cause of corruption.

    higherpurpose, 2014-12 · Strong recommendation · in “Secret surveillance detected in Oslo”

  2. “It is long, but well-reasoned and supported by a lot of evidence. Definitely worth a watch...”

    Long, evidence-backed case for the root cause of lobbying corruption since the 1970s.

    kbaker, 2016-04 · Strong recommendation · in “When Lobbying was Illegal”

  3. “This is very long but it goes into a well thought-out theory for why and how this happened.”

    Long, well thought-out theory of how things went wrong.

    kilroy123, 2022-05 · Strong recommendation · in “How to Be Successful (2019)”

  4. “Voting has to be truly and completely private to not permit of corruption.”

    Argues voting must be completely private to prevent corruption.

    stephensongr, 2015-03 · Recommendation · in “Ask HN: Why is there no solution for direct democracy?”

  5. “why secret ballots (or anonymous voting in general) should be preferred over”

    Argues secret ballots beat voting transparency.

    mtgx, 2018-10 · Recommendation · in “As Chinese investment pours into the EU, the Europeans are beginning to worry”

  6. “here's an interesting video.”

    Explains the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970.

    swalsh, 2020-11 · Recommendation · in “WTF Happened in 1971? (2019)”

  7. “This video has a nice summary of all the changes in the 1970s”

    Summary of 1970s changes, tracing problems to open congressional voting.

    snomad, 2020-11 · Recommendation · in “WTF Happened in 1971? (2019)”

  8. “transparency in congressional committees is a counter-intuitively bad idea because it allows lobbyists to proactively apply pressure”

    Argues committee transparency lets lobbyists pressure members early.

    jnellis, 2025-01 · Recommendation · in “WTF Happened in 1971? (2019)”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: legislative reorganization act, secret ballot, lobbying, congress, political reform

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