Pay 2 Play: Democracy’s High Stakes is a 2014 documentary directed by left-of-center filmmaker John Wellington Ennis that promotes many left-of-center talking points regarding money in politics and attacks right-of-center organizations such as the American Legislative Exchange Council and the network of center-right and libertarian-leaning groups funded by businessman Charles Koch and his late brother David Koch.

The documentary mostly focuses on criticizing right-of-center institutions and largely does not focus on “dark money” political groups that exist on the left. The documentary has been screened by left-of-center groups and on college campuses throughout the United States and, despite not being an actual organization, the documentary is listed as part of the left-of-center Declaration of American Democracy coalition, which has promoted mail-in voting and has supported left-of-center election administration policy at the federal level. ¹

Background

Pay 2 Play: Democracy’s High Stakes is a documentary that was released in 2014 that ostensibly criticized the “pay to play” political system through which politicians allegedly “reward donors” with government contracts, tax cuts, and deregulation. The documentary is presented from a left-of-center viewpoint and mostly focuses on criticizing right-of-center organizations and institutions. ²

The documentary was directed by John Wellington Ennis and “picks up” where Ennis’ 2008 political documentary FREE FOR ALL left off. The earlier documentary promoted conspiracy theories that alleged voter fraud in Ohio during 2004 presidential election helped hand the election to President George W. Bush. FREE FOR ALL persuaded then-Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert to claim in his review of that documentary that the 2004 election “may have been stolen. ^{3 4}

Following the release of FREE FOR ALL, Ennis founded a left-of-center election advocacy group called Video the Vote with by Ian Inaba of Guerilla News Network and James Rucker of Color of Change in 2006. Video the Vote was operated by the left-of-center Citizen Engagement Laboratory and encourages individuals to record alleged acts of voter fraud at polling sites and upload them to the group’s website. The group is aligned with the viewpoints expressed in Ennis’ documentaries, and, like the documentaries, Video the Vote claimed “massive voter disenfranchisement” occurred in Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004, which it blames for George W. Bush winning presidential elections in those years. ⁵

Content

Pay 2 Play: Democracy’s High Stakes interviews many notable left-of-center activists, media pundits, and operatives including Van Jones, Noam Chomsky, Marianne Williamson, Robert Reich, Lawrence Lessig, and Jerry Springer. The documentary also interviewed disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. ^{6 7}

The documentary also attacks many right-of-center organizations, individuals, and officials including organizations funded by Charles and David Koch, the American Legislative Exchange Council, and right-of-center Supreme Court Justices. The documentary is particularly critical of the Supreme Court’s decisions in the Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, McCutcheon v. FEC, and Citizens United v. FEC cases. ⁸

Declaration for American Democracy

Pay 2 Play: Democracy’s High Stakes is listed as a member of the Declaration for American Democracy, a coalition of left-leaning activist groups that advocates for a series of governmental and electoral administration policy changes. The coalition supports proposed federal legislation that would enact several left-leaning policy priorities surrounding elections including automatic voter registration and restrictive regulations on political campaign-related speech acts. The coalition is a project of Public Citizen Foundation, a left-of-center advocacy group founded by Ralph Nader. ⁹

1. “Pay2Play: Democracy’s High Stakes.” Amazon. Accessed February 23, 2023. https://www.amazon.com/Pay-Play-Democracys-High-Stakes/dp/B00O20UNM4
2. “Pay2Play: Democracy’s High Stakes.” Amazon. Accessed February 23, 2023. https://www.amazon.com/Pay-Play-Democracys-High-Stakes/dp/B00O20UNM4
3. Ebert, Roger. “Free For All.” Chicago Sun-Times. 2008. Accessed February 23, 2023. https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/free-for-all-2008
4. “Pay2Play: Democracy’s High Stakes.” Amazon. Accessed February 23, 2023. https://www.amazon.com/Pay-Play-Democracys-High-Stakes/dp/B00O20UNM4
5. Berkman, Fran. “Ustream and Video the Vote Encourage Voters to Film Election Day Injustice.” Mashable. November 5, 2012. Accessed February 23, 2023. https://mashable.com/archive/video-the-vote
6. “Pay2Play: Democracy’s High Stakes.” Amazon. Accessed February 23, 2023. https://www.amazon.com/Pay-Play-Democracys-High-Stakes/dp/B00O20UNM4
7. “Pay2Play: Democracy’s High Stakes.” IMDB. Accessed February 23, 2023. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3410666/plotsummary/?ref_=tt_ov_pl
8. “Pay2Play: Democracy’s High Stakes.” Amazon. Accessed February 23, 2023. https://www.amazon.com/Pay-Play-Democracys-High-Stakes/dp/B00O20UNM4
9. “About.” Declaration for American Democracy. Accessed February 1, 2023. https://declarationforamericandemocracy.org/about/