Through the passing of Citizens United, major special interests have been allowed to contribute essentially unlimited campaign funding toward political candidates during election cycles.
This gives political candidates every motivation to ignore the interests of the common people in favor of a handful of wealthy donors, to whom they then owe favors.
This amounts to legalized bribery in our political process, and has led to some prominent Americans, including Jimmy Carter, to state that the US model is now perhaps closer to an oligarchy than a Republic.
The tragic death of Antonin Scalia also represents an opportunity. If Nominated, a supreme court who would reverse Citizens United would be a significant step forward in ensuring that the voice of the average American is heard.