For many Americans, this video, I’m Just a Bill, by Schoolhouse Rock, was their very first civics lesson. In three minutes, it explained how a representative democracy works.

In those days, the days pre-Citizens United, the passage of a bill was a long and sometimes tedious process. It typically began at the grass roots, where the idea was introduced to a representative of the people. That representative of the people would write the bill, garner some support and hopefully, the bill would be voted on by Congress. Then, it would have go through it all again in the Senate then, it would go to the President’s desk, where it may or may not be signed. You know how it works.