As a challenge to the proverb, some things aren’t for sale,” James Baumgartner founded Voteauction.com, a Web site offering to sell presidential votes to the highest bidder, in August.

Law enforcers temporarily forced the site offline, but not before it amplified a growing disrespect among young Americans toward government. If politicians hope to revive their influence on Generation X, they should heed the lessons Voteauction reveals.

Voteauction’s mission was simple: match sellers with buyers. Once a deal was struck, the site would collect, verify and mail the sellers’ absentee ballots. Baumgartner, an art student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, hoped to supplement his income and underscore the commercialization of American politics.

“In the current system, the voter is a product to be sold to corporations, but they’re being sold through this convoluted method,” he argued. “Voteauction is taking a more direct line—the old cutting-out-the-middle-man approach.” This innovative approach, however, did not impress law enforcers. California Secretary of State Bill Jones lashed out this week at the site. Vote markets are barred in all 50 states, and buying or selling votes in a federal election is punishable by a $10,000 fine and five years in jail. Notified of this by New York election officials, Baumgartner closed his site and sold it to Hans Bernhard, an Austrian businessman who expanded the experiment. Bernhard immediately circumvented U.S. laws by rebroadcasting Voteauction from Bulgaria. “We'll… have it running during the presidential election to see if this is a fruitful business,” he said.

His plan enrages election watchdogs such as Deborah Phillips, president of the Virginia-based Voting Integrity Project. Phillips says that irreverent actions such as vote selling, broadcast by the Internet, are corrupting U.S. political perspectives. “The more I've looked at this issue, the more concerned I've become,” she says, “because there’s a different mind-set that goes hand-in-hand with Internet entrepreneurs.” What Phillips and other Internet critics don’t recognize is that sites like Voteauction are reflecting, not dictating, cultural attitudes. When hundreds of GenXers flout the law by putting their votes up for auction, they are opting out of the entire American political system. This reflects a profound cynicism; young Americans are losing faith in the electoral process, our most sacrosanct democratic institution. Increasingly, 18-to-34-year-olds share Baumgartner’s belief that government is ruled by corporate donations, not principled politicians. An outspoken minority, such as the protesters who roiled this summer’s national political conventions, is fighting for reform. The majority, however, is turning away and crafting idiosyncratic lifestyles that ignore some of government’s fundamental institutions.

Voteauction’s participants represent this growing willingness to ignore legal restrictions if they stand in the way of what an individual wants to do. This is evidenced by the stunning popularity of virtual casinos, offshore pharmacies and song-trading sites, all of which cater to an unrepentant appetite for illegal products and services.

Government’s influence on personal behavior is beginning to wane, in part because laws are seen as purchased commodities, not principled constraints. Politicians wishing to stem this tide must adopt two simple approaches:

• Articulate the philosophies they adhere to and demonstrate that their actions are determined by their beliefs, not the donors who share them.
• Respond to the growing intolerance for the regulate-first mentality now infecting modern government. Some laws, such as the copyright protections challenged by MP3 sites such as Napster, have been vital parts of our legal framework.

Other laws place undue, hypocritical restraints on personal behavior. Gambling regulations, for example, restrict acceptable behavior and are often violated by legal authorities who craft loopholes rewarding communities that possess unfair influence. Instead of banning such activities, legislators should demonstrate trust in citizens to police themselves. This show of trust would begin restoring faith in government by demonstrating that America’s fundamental institutions are indeed not for sale.

Baumgartner’s beliefs and business model may be correct. But if politicians really do prostitute themselves to the highest bidder, our system should be reformed, not redesigned so everyone can profit.

Profit-first politics, though consistent with our capitalist culture, violates the tenets of American democracy. And it’s time for legislators to prove it.

Justin Matlick is a Chicago-based senior fellow in information studies for the Pacific Research Institute in San Francisco. He can be reached via email at jmatlick@pacificresearch.org.