Democratic Erosion
The Democratic Erosion capture lane traces 471 verified events documenting this mechanism of institutional capture.
Top 10 actors in this lane
10 actors · 1142–2026
Capture lanecorruptiondemocraticexecutivefinancialintelligencejudiciallaborlegislativemediamilitaryotherregulatory
Status
confirmed
alleged
disputed
| Date | Event | Lanes | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-10-01 | Zuckerberg Holds Secret White House Dinners with Trump, Kushner, and Thiel to Negotiate Content Moderation
4 src Mark Zuckerberg · Donald Trump · Jared Kushner · Peter Thiel · +2 | confirmed | |
| 2019-09-24 | Trump Freezes Ukraine Military Aid Demanding Biden Investigation
5 src Donald Trump · Volodymyr Zelenskyy · Rudy Giuliani · William Barr · +4 | confirmed | |
| 2019-03-15 | Christchurch Mosque Massacre: 8chan-Radicalized Terrorist Kills 51, Live-Streams Attack
3 src Brenton Tarrant · 8chan | confirmed | |
| 2019-01-01 | NBER Study: Private Equity-Owned Nursing Homes Have 10% Higher Death Rates Due to Cost-Cutting
3 src Private equity firms · Nursing home residents · Healthcare workers | confirmed | |
| 2018-06-27 | Janus v. AFSCME - Supreme Court Strikes Down Public Sector Union Fees, Targeting Teachers' Unions
6 src Justice Samuel Alito · Justice Neil Gorsuch · National Right to Work Foundation · State Policy Network · +4 | confirmed | |
| 2018-06-26 | New York Times Discloses McKinsey's $20 Million ICE Contract: Employee Outrage and Internal Crisis
2 src McKinsey & Company · New York Times · Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) · Kevin Sneader · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2018-05-08 | Armenian Parliament Confirms Nikol Pashinyan as Prime Minister, Completing Velvet Revolution
3 src Nikol Pashinyan · Armenian Civil Society · Republican Party of Armenia · Armenian Parliament | confirmed | |
| 2018-05-08 | Armenian Velvet Revolution Succeeds: Anti-Corruption Movement Achieves Peaceful Transition
3 src Nikol Pashinyan · Serzh Sargsyan · Armenian Civil Society · Civil Contract Party · +2 | confirmed | |
| 2017-10-28 | First QAnon Post on 4chan's /pol/: Chan Culture's Conspiracy Architecture Produces a Mass Political Movement
3 src Q (anonymous poster) | confirmed | |
| 2017-10-01 | ICE Credits McKinsey with 'Quantifiable Benefits': Increased Deportations and Reduced Detention Time
5 src McKinsey & Company · Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) · Migrant detainees | confirmed | |
| 2017-07-31 | V.C. Summer Nuclear Project Abandoned After $9 Billion Failure - Ratepayers Forced to Pay $2.3 Billion for Never-Built Reactors
5 src SCANA Corporation · Santee Cooper · Kevin Marsh · Stephen Byrne · +3 | confirmed | |
| 2017-05-02 | Ed Feulner Returns as Heritage Foundation Interim President After DeMint Ousted for Management Failures
4 src Edwin Feulner · Jim DeMint · Heritage Foundation · Heritage Foundation Board of Trustees · +2 | confirmed | |
| 2017-05-01 | McKinsey Ghostwrites Its Own $2.2 Million ICE Contract Extension: Consulting Firm Defines Its Own Scope of Work
5 src McKinsey & Company · Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) · ICE contracting officers | confirmed | |
| 2017-03-30 | McKinsey Proposes 'Detention Savings Opportunities': Cuts to Food, Medical Care, and Guard Supervision for Migrants
5 src McKinsey & Company · Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) · ICE career staff · Migrant detainees | confirmed | |
| 2017-03-01 | Peter Thiel Hires Vance at Mithril Capital
3 src Peter Thiel · J.D. Vance · Ajay Royan | confirmed | |
| 2017-02-21 | Attorney General Jeff Sessions Rescinds Obama-Era Private Prison Phase-Out, Citing 'Future Needs of Federal Corrections System'
3 src Jeff Sessions · Department of Justice · Donald Trump · CoreCivic · +2 | confirmed | |
| 2017-02-01 | McKinsey Redirected from Obama-Era ICE Reform to Trump Immigration Crackdown Consulting
6 src McKinsey & Company · Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) · Donald Trump · U.S. Department of Homeland Security | confirmed | |
| 2017-01-20 | McKinsey's ICE Contract Redirected Toward Trump's Immigration Crackdown and Detention Cost-Cutting
18 src McKinsey & Company · Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) · Donald Trump · Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) | confirmed | |
| 2016-11-19 | Richard Spencer's NPI Conference: "Hail Trump, Hail Our People" — The Alt-Right Goes Public
2 src Richard Spencer · National Policy Institute | confirmed | |
| 2016-11-09 | Private Prison Stocks Surge After Trump Election Victory, CoreCivic Up 43% and GEO Group Up 21% in Single Day
3 src Donald Trump · CoreCivic · GEO Group · Wall Street investors · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2016-10-28 | Corrections Corporation of America Rebrands as CoreCivic After DOJ Phase-Out Announcement and Undercover Exposé
3 src Corrections Corporation of America · CoreCivic · Damon T. Hininger · Board of Directors | confirmed | |
| 2016-10-07 | Republicans Withdraw Support for Trump After Access Hollywood Tape
4 src Paul Ryan · Reince Priebus · Jason Chaffetz · John McCain · +5 | confirmed | |
| 2016-10-07 | Washington Post Releases Access Hollywood Tape
4 src Donald Trump · Billy Bush · David Fahrenthold · Washington Post | confirmed | |
| 2016-08-18 | Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates Issues Memo to Phase Out Federal Private Prisons, Citing Safety Problems and High Costs
3 src Sally Yates · Department of Justice · Bureau of Prisons · CoreCivic · +2 | confirmed | |
| 2016-06-28 | Hillbilly Elegy Published - Vance as Trump Critic
4 src J.D. Vance · Donald Trump · Charlie Rose · ABC News | confirmed | |
| 2016-03-29 | Seventeen State Attorneys General Announce ExxonMobil Climate Fraud Investigations
4 src Eric Schneiderman · Maura Healey · Claude Walker · ExxonMobil · +3 | confirmed | |
| 2016-01-01 | YouTube Algorithm Optimizes for Watch Time, Systematically Amplifies Extremism
4 src YouTube · Google · Guillaume Chaslot · Zeynep Tufekci (researcher) | confirmed | |
| 2015-09-16 | InsideClimate News Launches
4 src InsideClimate News · ExxonMobil · Los Angeles Times · Columbia University · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2015-06-25 | Supreme Court Rejects King v. Burwell Challenge to ACA Subsidies in Federal Exchanges
4 src U.S. Supreme Court · Chief Justice John Roberts · Justice Antonin Scalia · King (Plaintiff) · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2015-06-09 | Maine Governor LePage Threatens to Withhold School Funding to Block Political Opponent's Hiring
7 src Paul LePage · Mark Eves · Good Will-Hinckley | confirmed | |
| 2014-12-16 | Marco Rubio's Risk Corridor Amendment Triggers ACA Insurance Market Destabilization
4 src Senator Marco Rubio · U.S. Congress · U.S. Department of Health and Human Services · Insurance Companies | confirmed | |
| 2014-07-04 | Richard Mellon Scaife Dies After Investing $620 Million in Conservative Movement Infrastructure
4 src Richard Scaife · Sarah Scaife Foundation · Carthage Foundation · Allegheny Foundation · +6 | confirmed | |
| 2014-03-18 | Annexation of Crimea: Putin's Strategic Asset Seizure
4 src Vladimir Putin · Sergey Aksyonov · Viktor Yanukovych · Sergey Lavrov · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2013-06-25 | ALEC States Immediately Implement Voter Restrictions After Shelby County Decision
3 src Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott · North Carolina Legislature · American Legislative Exchange Council · U.S. Supreme Court | confirmed | |
| 2013-06-25 | Shelby County Decision Guts Voting Rights Act Preclearance
5 src Clarence Thomas · Samuel Alito · John Roberts · Shelby County Alabama | confirmed | |
| 2013-05-21 | Senate Investigates Google Tax Avoidance, Exposes 2.4% Foreign Tax Rate
4 src Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations · Carl Levin · John McCain · Google · +2 | confirmed | |
| 2012-10-22 | Climate Scientist Michael Mann Files Defamation Lawsuit Against Climate Denial Writers
4 src Michael Mann · Rand Simberg · Mark Steyn · Competitive Enterprise Institute · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2012-06-28 | Supreme Court Makes ACA Medicaid Expansion Optional, Enabling State Obstruction
5 src U.S. Supreme Court · Chief Justice John Roberts · National Federation of Independent Business · Republican Governors · +1 | confirmed | |
| 2012-06-07 | 38 Studios Files Chapter 7 Bankruptcy After $75 Million Rhode Island Loan Guarantee, Leaving Taxpayers with $38.6 Million Loss
4 src Curt Schilling · 38 Studios LLC · Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation · Lincoln Chafee · +2 | confirmed | |
| 2012-03-02 | Iowa Governor Branstad Signs Nation's First Modern Ag-Gag Law Criminalizing Undercover Documentation of Agricultural Facility Abuses, Using ALEC Model Legislation to Shield Corporate Factory Farms from Whistleblower Investigations
4 src Iowa Legislature · Governor Terry Branstad · American Legislative Exchange Council · Agriculture Industry | confirmed | |
| 2012-02-27 | WikiLeaks Publishes 5 Million Stratfor Emails Revealing Private Intelligence Firm's Surveillance of Activists and Corporate Espionage
4 src WikiLeaks · Julian Assange · Jeremy Hammond · Stratfor · +10 | confirmed | |
| 2011-01-01 | 34 States Introduce ALEC Voter ID Bills in Coordinated Suppression Campaign
3 src American Legislative Exchange Council · Republican state legislators · Heritage Foundation · State Policy Network | confirmed | |
| 2010-06-24 | DISCLOSE Act Passes House But GOP Blocks Senate Vote on Citizens United Response
4 src Chuck Schumer · Chris Van Hollen · Mitch McConnell · Barack Obama · +2 | confirmed | |
| 2010-01-27 | Obama Criticizes Citizens United at State of Union, Alito Responds 'Not True'
4 src Barack Obama · Samuel Alito · John Roberts · Ruth Bader Ginsburg · +3 | confirmed | |
| 2009-09-12 | 9/12 Taxpayer March on Washington Demonstrates Koch Network Mobilization Power
3 src FreedomWorks · Americans for Prosperity · Dick Armey · Brendan Steinhauser · +6 | confirmed | |
| 2009-07-17 | ALEC Creates Model Voter ID Legislation Following Obama Election
3 src American Legislative Exchange Council · Hans von Spakovsky · Heritage Foundation · ALEC Public Safety and Elections Task Force | confirmed | |
| 2009-02-19 | Rick Santelli CNBC Rant Triggers Immediate Koch Network Tea Party Response
3 src Rick Santelli · David Koch · Charles Koch · Americans for Prosperity · +5 | confirmed | |
| 2008-09-11 | Kids for Cash Scandal Exposed: Pennsylvania Judges Accepted $2.8 Million in Kickbacks to Fill Private Juvenile Detention Centers
4 src Mark Ciavarella · Michael Conahan · PA Child Care · Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas · +2 | confirmed | |
| 2004-07-22 | Koch Network Restructures: CSE Splits into FreedomWorks and Americans for Prosperity
3 src David Koch · Charles Koch · Dick Armey · Nancy Pfotenhauer · +5 | confirmed | |
| 2004-01-22 | DC Opportunity Scholarship Program - First Federally-Funded School Voucher System
3 src President George W. Bush · Speaker Dennis Hastert · Senator Judd Gregg · DC Public Schools · +2 | confirmed | |
| 2002-10-25 | WHIG Coordinates Post-Vote Intelligence Suppression Campaign
3 src White House Iraq Group · Dick Cheney · Karl Rove · Condoleezza Rice · +3 | confirmed | |
| 2002-06-27 | Zelman v. Simmons-Harris - Supreme Court Upholds School Vouchers for Religious Schools
3 src Chief Justice William Rehnquist · Justice Sandra Day O'Connor · Justice Clarence Thomas · Institute for Justice · +2 | confirmed | |
| 2000-01-01 | ALEC Membership Reaches 2,000+ State Legislators - Represents One-Quarter to One-Third of All State Legislators Nationwide
5 src American Legislative Exchange Council · State Legislators (2,000+ members) | confirmed | |
| 2000-01-01 | Indigenous Consensus Decision-Making: A Democratic Innovation Framework
3 src Indigenous Leadership Networks · Governance Scholars · Native American Governance Experts | confirmed | |
| 1999-08-09 | Putin Appointed Prime Minister by Yeltsin
3 src Vladimir Putin · Boris Yeltsin | confirmed | |
| 1998-10-01 | Electronic Industries Alliance Blacklisting - K Street Project Enforcement
3 src Tom DeLay · Newt Gingrich · Dave McCurdy · Bill Paxon · +3 | confirmed | |
| 1998-04-01 | American Petroleum Institute Drafts Secret Climate Denial Strategy Document
3 src American Petroleum Institute · ExxonMobil · Chevron · Southern Company · +2 | confirmed | |
| 1994-11-08 | Republicans Win Historic Midterm Election with Contract with America
3 src Newt Gingrich · Dick Armey · Richard Mellon Scaife · Joseph Coors · +2 | confirmed | |
| 1994-07-01 | Wackenhut Corrections (Later GEO Group) Goes Public on NASDAQ, Second Major Private Prison Company Enters Wall Street
3 src Wackenhut Corrections Corporation (WCC) · GEO Group · George C. Zoley · The Wackenhut Corporation · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1992-11-03 | Oregon Voters Defeat Measure 9, Anti-LGBTQ Constitutional Amendment Backed by Christian Right
4 src Oregon Citizens Alliance · Lon Mabon · Christian Coalition · No on 9 Coalition | confirmed | |
| 1992-10-29 | FDA Prescription Drug User Fee Act Creates Financial Dependence on Pharmaceutical Industry
3 src Food and Drug Administration · PhRMA · U.S. Congress · Pharmaceutical companies | confirmed | |
| 1990-03-27 | Milwaukee Parental Choice Program Creates First Publicly-Funded Private School Vouchers
3 src Governor Tommy Thompson · Representative Polly Williams · Bradley Foundation · Milwaukee Public Schools | confirmed | |
| 1988-01-01 | Maxwell Acquires Macmillan Publishers, Expanding US Media Empire at Massive Cost
3 src Robert Maxwell · Macmillan Publishers · Berlitz International · Official Airline Guides | confirmed | |
| 1987-09-16 | Senate Resolution Acknowledges Haudenosaunee Influence on Constitution During Bicentennial Celebrations
2 src U.S. Senate · Haudenosaunee Confederacy · Six Nations | confirmed | |
| 1987-01-01 | Wackenhut Corrections Wins First Federal Immigration Detention Contract in Aurora, Colorado
4 src Wackenhut Corporation · Wackenhut Corrections Corporation · George C. Zoley · George Wackenhut · +2 | confirmed | |
| 1986-10-01 | Corrections Corporation of America Goes Public on NASDAQ at $9 Per Share, Wall Street Bets on Mass Incarceration
3 src Corrections Corporation of America · Thomas W. Beasley · Nasdaq · Vanderbilt University Law School · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1984-01-22 | First Fully Privatized Prison Opens in Houston Under CCA Contract with Immigration and Naturalization Service
3 src Corrections Corporation of America · Immigration and Naturalization Service · T. Don Hutto · Thomas W. Beasley | confirmed | |
| 1983-01-28 | Corrections Corporation of America Founded in Nashville, Launching Modern Private Prison Industry
3 src Thomas W. Beasley · Robert Crants · T. Don Hutto · Corrections Corporation of America · +2 | confirmed | |
| 1982-01-01 | Federalist Society Founded to Capture Conservative Legal Pipeline
3 src Steven Calabresi · David McIntosh · Lee Liberman Otis · Spencer Abraham · +2 | confirmed | |
| 1980-01-01 | Banking Industry Launches Systematic Campaign to Erode Glass-Steagall Act
3 src Major commercial banks · Banking lobbyists · Federal regulators · Academic economists · +2 | confirmed | |
| 1979-06-01 | Falwell and Weyrich Found Moral Majority, Fusing Religious Right with Corporate Agenda
3 src Jerry Falwell · Paul Weyrich · Ed McAteer · Richard Viguerie · +3 | confirmed | |
| 1978-12-31 | Corporate Lobbying Presence Quintuples in Washington DC
3 src U.S. Chamber of Commerce · Corporate Lobbying Industry · Lewis Powell · Fortune 500 Leadership | confirmed | |
| 1978-01-01 | Jude Wanniski Publishes "The Way the World Works," Supply-Side Economics Manifesto
2 src Jude Wanniski · Arthur Laffer · Wall Street Journal | confirmed | |
| 1978-01-01 | Robert Bork Publishes "The Antitrust Paradox," Revolutionizing Corporate Power
3 src Robert Bork · Aaron Director · University of Chicago · Chicago School of Economics | confirmed | |
| 1977-01-01 | Charles Koch Founds Cato Institute with $500,000, Expanding Libertarian Infrastructure
3 src Charles Koch · Ed Crane · Murray Rothbard · Koch Industries | confirmed | |
| 1977-01-01 | Milton Friedman Begins Development of "Free to Choose" PBS Series on Free Markets
4 src Milton Friedman · Rose Friedman · Bob Chitester · Free to Choose Network | confirmed | |
| 1977-01-01 | William E. Simon Becomes Olin Foundation President, Launching Strategic Conservative Funding
2 src William E. Simon · John M. Olin · John M. Olin Foundation | confirmed | |
| 1975-04-28 | Church Committee Exposes Psychological Manipulation Techniques in Government Operations
4 src Senator Frank Church · Central Intelligence Agency · Intelligence Community · Donald Ewen Cameron · +2 | confirmed | |
| 1975-01-01 | Paul Weyrich Becomes First Director of ALEC, Consolidating State Legislative Strategy
3 src Paul Weyrich · American Legislative Exchange Council · Henry Hyde | confirmed | |
| 1974-12-01 | Arthur Laffer Sketches Curve on Napkin with Rumsfeld and Cheney, Creating Supply-Side Icon
2 src Arthur Laffer · Jude Wanniski · Donald Rumsfeld · Dick Cheney | confirmed | |
| 1974-01-01 | American Enterprise Institute Establishes Center for Health Policy Research
2 src American Enterprise Institute | confirmed | |
| 1974-01-01 | Richard Butler Establishes Aryan Nations Compound in Hayden Lake, Idaho
11 src Richard Girnt Butler · Aryan Nations · Church of Jesus Christ Christian · Christian Posse Comitatus · +2 | confirmed | |
| 1974-01-01 | Richard Scaife Begins Major Funding of Heritage Foundation as Primary Donor
3 src Richard Mellon Scaife · Scaife Family Charitable Trust · Heritage Foundation · Paul Weyrich · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1974-01-01 | Weyrich Founds Committee for the Survival of a Free Congress, Expanding Infrastructure
2 src Paul Weyrich · Joseph Coors | confirmed | |
| 1973-06-25 | Opus Dei: Canonical Recognition and Unique Ecclesiastical Status
3 src Pope Pius XII · Pope John Paul II · Josemaria Escriva · Opus Dei | confirmed | |
| 1973-02-16 | Heritage Foundation Founded by Conservative Activists and Business Leaders
3 src Paul Weyrich · Edwin Feulner · Joseph Coors · Heritage Foundation | confirmed | |
| 1973-01-22 | Supreme Court Decides Roe v. Wade, Triggering Conservative Backlash and Mobilization
2 src U.S. Supreme Court · Nellie Gray | confirmed | |
| 1973-01-01 | Paul Weyrich Begins Official Coalition Meetings, Coordinating Conservative Movement
3 src Paul Weyrich · Edwin Feulner · Joseph Coors · Richard Viguerie | confirmed | |
| 1970-04-22 | First Earth Day Mobilizes 20 Million Americans, Launches Modern Environmental Movement
3 src Senator Gaylord Nelson · Denis Hayes · Environmental Action · President Richard Nixon | confirmed | |
| 1970-01-01 | John Olin Activates Foundation to Fund Law and Economics Programs at Elite Universities
3 src John M. Olin · John M. Olin Foundation · University of Chicago Law School | confirmed | |
| 1970-01-01 | Maxwell Establishes Eastern Bloc Scientific Literature Publishing Network
3 src Robert Maxwell · Pergamon Press · Eastern Bloc governments · Soviet publishers | confirmed | |
| 1970-01-01 | Richard Viguerie Pioneers Computerized Direct Mail, Revolutionizing Conservative Fundraising
3 src Richard Viguerie · Paul Weyrich · Howard Phillips · Terry Dolan | confirmed | |
| 1969-12-04 | FBI and Chicago Police Assassinate Black Panther Leader Fred Hampton in Pre-Dawn Raid
3 src Fred Hampton · J. Edgar Hoover · Federal Bureau of Investigation · Chicago Police Department · +3 | confirmed | |
| 1968-06-05 | Robert F. Kennedy Assassinated in Los Angeles After California Primary Victory
3 src Robert F. Kennedy · Sirhan Sirhan · Federal Bureau of Investigation · LAPD | confirmed | |
| 1968-03-01 | Kerner Commission Report Identifying White Racism as Riot Cause Rejected by LBJ and Ignored Sparking Law-and-Order Backlash
4 src Kerner Commission · Governor Otto Kerner Jr. · President Lyndon B. Johnson · Richard Nixon | confirmed | |
| 1967-07-28 | Reagan Signs Mulford Act Gun Control Law With NRA Support to Disarm Black Panthers Armed Patrols
4 src Governor Ronald Reagan · Don Mulford · National Rifle Association · Black Panther Party · +1 | confirmed | |
| 1966-07-04 | Freedom of Information Act Signed After Decade of Executive Branch Opposition
3 src President Lyndon B. Johnson · Representative John Moss · Senator Edward Long · American Society of Newspaper Editors | confirmed | |
| 1966-06-13 | Miranda v. Arizona Decision Requiring Rights Warnings Sparks Law Enforcement Backlash and Conservative Law-and-Order Politics
4 src U.S. Supreme Court · Chief Justice Earl Warren · Richard Nixon · Law enforcement organizations | confirmed | |
| 1966-01-01 | Wackenhut Corporation Acquires HUAC Staffer's Files, Claims Dossiers on 4+ Million Americans
4 src George Wackenhut · Wackenhut Corporation · Karl Baarslag · House Un-American Activities Committee | confirmed | |
| 1964-06-21 | Mississippi Burning Murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner During Freedom Summer Voter Registration
3 src James Chaney · Andrew Goodman · Michael Schwerner · Ku Klux Klan · +6 | confirmed |