Do you believe in democracy? "Democracy" means "the people rule." And rule fairly, with power shared equitably. Democracy decentralizes power among all citizens. One person, one vote. Not "one dollar, one vote." Not "one corporation, one vote." The people rule.

Our democracy is undermined when:

The centrally planned economies of chain stores force independently owned stores out of business, often by engaging in predatory business practices. Corporations have forced a series of changes in anti-trust laws, allowing themselves to become ever bigger and more powerful.

Corporations pit communities against one another to compete for jobs, forcing communities to subsidize land, infrastructure, utilities and sometimes wages, and to relax environmental and health laws.

A few large corporations are allowed to amass private fortunes by extracting the real wealth of our public lands through archaic laws like the 1872 mining law.

Political candidates stock up on contributions from corporations and wealthy individuals and then enact most of the policies these contributors desire. In 1976, corporate free speech was redefined so as to include campaign contributions and advertising.

Many workers in Flagstaff earn less than a living wage in our "robust" economy. Corporations lobby Congress to prevent raises in the minimum wage. Their domination of the marketplace often gives workers no alternatives.

Citizens must chip away at corporate wrongdoing one toxic waste dump, one clear-cut forest at a time. Corporations have arranged our nation's laws so that they are rarely prosecuted in criminal court. That is why citizen damage awards are so important - civil cases are usually the public's only way to fight against corporate wrongdoing.

Why does excessive corporate power routinely trump citizen desires?

In 1886, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision that would make a mockery of the central democratic principle of one person, one vote, and invert the Bill of Rights. In Santa Clara County vs. Southern Pacific Railroad, a dispute over a railroad route, a private corporation was classified as a "natural person" under the 14th Amendment, and therefore entitled to protection under the Bill of Rights. The 14th Amendment was originally passed to make African Americans full citizens of the United States after slavery was abolished.

As "natural persons," corporations have the right of free speech and cannot "be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law." Of course, corporations have far more power, money and influence than individual human beings, making their "votes" count for far more than those of citizens. One dollar, one vote is the law of the land, giving those with more dollars a greater say in governmental affairs.

It wasn't always this way. The first English corporations, like the British East India Company, were chartered for very specific purposes that included serving the common good. When the American colonists became concerned that the British East India Company was not serving their interests, they rebelled with the Boston Tea Party on Dec. 16, 1773. Many historians say that the American Revolution was in large part against British corporations, in addition to the British monarchy.

For decades after the Revolution, Americans held the power of corporations in check. Corporations could only be chartered for limited periods of time. Charters had to serve the public interest. Owners and managers were held personally liable for criminal wrongdoing. Corporations were not allowed to participate in the political process. One corporation could not buy another corporation or even own stock in another corporation. To ensure local control and input, a corporation's stockholders were required to be from the state where it did its business.

And most severely, corporations could be dissolved at any time if a company violated its charter - a corporate "death penalty." This action was taken by states and the federal government numerous times. For example, in 1832, Pennsylvania revoked the charters of 10 banks and President Andrew Jackson vetoed extending the charter of another for harming the public interest.

How times have changed. During the tumultuous years of the Civil War and Reconstruction, corporations used the resulting chaos to chip away at corporate law, case by case, until Santa Clara County vs. Southern Pacific Railroad. Abraham Lincoln warned, "Corporations have been enthroned. ... An era of corruption in high places will follow and the money power will endeavor to prolong its reign by working on the prejudices of the people ... until wealth is aggregated in a few hands ... and the republic is destroyed."

Today the World Trade Organization has brought corporate aristocracy or "coporatocracy" to the global level. Through the WTO, corporations have the right to challenge democratically created national, state and local laws that stand in the way of profits. Tribunals are conducted in secret, with no public participation. Documents, hearings and briefs are confidential. Three non-elected trade bureaucrats decide cases. There are no conflict-of-interest regulations governing who may be appointed to this panel. Since the WTO was created in 1995, every single public health, human rights or environmental law reviewed by the WTO has been ruled an illegal "barrier to trade."

Soon after the WTO was created, corporations attempted to further broaden the scope of their global rule with the Multilateral Agreement on Investment. The MAI would have overruled all "nonconforming" laws and allowed any corporation anywhere in the world to directly sue any city, state or national government in countries that belong to the WTO for "noncompliance." It would give corporations free reign to buy, sell and move their financial and physical assets anywhere in the world without public recourse. In 1998, popular global grassroots opposition forced suspension of MAI trade talks, but corporations no doubt will attempt to resurrect it.    

A growing number of citizens are working to reinstate corporate accountability by amending state constitutions, corporate codes, charter revocation laws and other laws governing corporations. Campaign finance reform is also an absolute necessity. The ultimate solution is to overturn the Supreme Court ruling that corporations are "natural persons."

Democracy Unlimited of Humboldt County, Calif. is working to dismantle corporate rule across California and southwest Oregon. DUHC is one of nearly 150 organizations that have petitioned the Attorney General of California to initiate charter revocation proceedings against petroleum giant Unocal because of what they believe to be its "egregious record on the environment, labor, human rights, usurpation of political power, and deception." Other charter revocation targets around the country include tobacco and automobile companies.

Citizen ballot initiatives are another way to enact the needed changes. Citizens Concerned About Corporations, a sister group of DUHC, runs ballot initiatives that challenge corporate rule in a number of ways.

One year ago, on Nov. 30, I was one of 40,000 people who converged on Seattle to protest an international meeting of the World Trade Organization. The protests against undemocratic global corporate rule continued throughout 2000 during the International Monetary Fund / World Bank meeting in Prague, the Czech Republic; the G8 economic summit in Sydney, Australia; and other locations. Our newly elected President (whoever he may be) is an ardent supporter of the WTO and other forms of undemocratic economic globalization. He needs to be frequently reminded by American citizens that we will not stand for the erosion of democracy around the world.

Here in Flagstaff, the End Corporate Dominance Coalition is working to dismantle local corporate rule in a number of ways. There is a campaign to stop a Super Wal-Mart from being added to the proposed Flagstaff Mall expansion. The FAN-tastic local business campaign is working to strengthen local businesses in the face of corporate domination. Though these are commendable efforts, I would also like to see a local group working to change corporate law and to make the revocation of corporate  charters easier.

An 11-year resident of Flagstaff, Lisa Rayner holds an Interpretation of Natural Resources degree from Northern Arizona University. She is a master gardener and permaculture consultant. She is also the author of Growing Food in the Southwest Mountains.