The Constitutional and Political Implications of Campaign Finance Reform

The Constitutional and Political Implications of Campaign Finance Reform PDF Author: Jonathan Saul Rothman
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Campaign funds
Languages : en
Pages : 828

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Book Description

The Constitutional and Political Implications of Campaign Finance Reform

The Constitutional and Political Implications of Campaign Finance Reform PDF Author: Jonathan Saul Rothman
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Campaign funds
Languages : en
Pages : 828

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Book Description


The Appearance of Corruption

The Appearance of Corruption PDF Author: Daron R. Shaw
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0197548431
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 188

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Book Description
A critical analysis of the connections that the United States Supreme Court has made between campaign finance regulations and voters' behavior. The sanctity of political speech is a key element of the United States Constitution and a cornerstone of the American republic. When the Supreme Court linked political speech to campaign finance in its landmark Buckley v. Valeo (1976) decision, the modern era of campaign finance regulation was born. The decision stated that in order to pass constitutional muster, any laws limiting money in politics must be narrowly tailored and serve a compelling state interest. The lone state interest the Court was willing to entertain was the mitigation of corruption. In order to reach this conclusion, the Court advanced a sophisticated behavioral model that made assumptions about how laws affect voters' opinions and behavior. These assumptions have received surprisingly little attention until now. In The Appearance of Corruption, Daron Shaw, Brian Roberts, and Mijeong Baek analyze the connections that the Court made between campaign finance regulations and voters' behavior. The court argued that an increase in perceived corruption would lower engagement and turnout. Drawing from original survey data and experiments, they confront the question of what happens when the Supreme Court is wrong-and when the foundation of over 40 years of jurisprudence is simply not true. Even with the heightened awareness of campaign finance issues that emerged in the wake of the 2010 Citizens United decision, there is little empirical support for the Court's reasoning that turnout would decline. A rigorous statistical analysis, this is the first work to simultaneously name and test each and every one of the Court's assumptions in the pre- and post-Citizen's United eras. It will also fundamentally reshape how we think about campaign finance regulation's effects on voter behavior.

The Constitution and Campaign Finance Reform

The Constitution and Campaign Finance Reform PDF Author: Frederick Gilbert Slabach
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 638

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Book Description
This new edition assembles the scholarship of some of the most prominent critics and supporters of jurisprudence on the U.S. Constitution and campaign finance. Contributors include academics, judges, reform advocates and practitioners, including Columbia law professor Richard Briffault, Chicago law professor Case R. Sunstei, former FCC Commission Chairman Reed Hundt, Democracy 21 president Fred Wertheimer, and former U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Judge J. Skelly Wright. Among many important topics, the new edition discusses the concept of money as speech, the possible compelling state interests necessary to justify government limitations, and various alternative methods of regulating campaign finance. The new edition includes discussions of the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (the so-called McCain-Feingold Legislation), the 2003 U.S. Supreme Court decision in McConnell v. FEC, and entities organized under Internal Revenue Code section 527. The organization of the materials allows the addition of campaign finance module for existing Constitutional Law, Election Law, First Amendment, and Political Science courses or the creation of a separate course on this important subject. "A well-rounded collection of contrasting arguments." -- Law & Politics Book Review

Campaign Finance Reform

Campaign Finance Reform PDF Author: Anthony Corrado
Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
ISBN: 9780815715818
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 500

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Book Description
A collection of documents and analysis focuses on the statutory, legal, and administrative dimensions of campaign financing, its regulation, and the potential for reform.

Voting with Dollars

Voting with Dollars PDF Author: Bruce Ackerman
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300127014
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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Book Description
divdivIn this provocative book, two leading law professors challenge the existing campaign reform agenda and present a new initiative that avoids the mistakes of the past. Bruce Ackerman and Ian Ayres build on the example of the secret ballot and propose a system of “secret donation booths” for campaign contributions. They unveil a plan in which the government provides each voter with a special credit card account containing fifty “Patriot dollars” for presidential elections. To use this money, citizens go to their local ATM machine and anonymously send their Patriot dollars to their favorite candidates or political organizations. Americans are free to make additional contributions, but they must also give these gifts anonymously. Because candidates cannot identify who provided the funds, it will be much harder for big contributors to buy political influence. And the need for politicians to compete for the Patriot dollars will give much more power to the people. Ackerman and Ayres work out the operating details of their plan, anticipate problems, design safeguards, suggest overseers, and show how their proposals satisfy the most stringent constitutional requirements. They conclude with a model statute that could serve as the basis of a serious congressional effort to restore Americans’ faith in democratic politics./DIV/DIV

The Fallacy of Campaign Finance Reform

The Fallacy of Campaign Finance Reform PDF Author: John Samples
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226734633
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 391

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Book Description
At first glance, campaign finance reform looks like a good idea. McCain-Feingold, for instance, regulates campaigns by prohibiting national political parties from accepting soft money contributions from corporations, labor unions, and wealthy individuals. But are such measures, or any of the numerous and similarly restrictive proposals that have circulated through Washington in recent years, really good for our democracy? John Samples says no, and here he takes a penetrating look into the premises and consequences of the long crusade against big money in politics. How many Americans, he asks, know that there is little to no evidence that campaign contributions really influence members of Congress? Or that so-called negative political advertising actually improves the democratic process by increasing voter turnout and knowledge? Or that limits on campaign contributions make it harder to run for office, thereby protecting incumbent representatives from losing their seats of power? Posing tough questions such as these, Samples uncovers numerous fallacies beneath proposals for campaign finance reform. He argues that our most common concerns about money in politics are misplaced because the ideals implicit in our notion of corruption are incoherent or indefensible. The chance to regulate money in politics allows representatives to serve their own interests at a cost to their constituents. And, ironically, this long crusade against the corruption caused by campaign contributions allows public officials to reduce their vulnerability by suppressing electoral competition. Defying long-held ssumptions and conventional political wisdom, The Fallacy of Campaign Finance Reform is a provocative and decidedly nonpartisan work that will be essential for anyone concerned about the future of American government.

Unfree Speech

Unfree Speech PDF Author: Samantha Sellinger
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400824710
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 301

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Book Description
At a time when campaign finance reform is widely viewed as synonymous with cleaning up Washington and promoting political equality, Bradley Smith, a nationally recognized expert on campaign finance reform, argues that all restriction on campaign giving should be eliminated. In Unfree Speech, he presents a bold, convincing argument for the repeal of laws that regulate political spending and contributions, contending that they violate the right to free speech and ultimately diminish citizens' power. Smith demonstrates that these laws, which often force ordinary people making modest contributions of cash or labor to register with the Federal Election Commission or various state agencies, fail to accomplish their stated objectives. In fact, they have worked to entrench incumbents in office, deaden campaign discourse, burden grassroots political activity with needless regulation, and distance Americans from an increasingly professional, detached political class. Rather than attempting to plug "loopholes" in campaign finance law or instituting taxpayer-financed campaigns, Smith proposes a return to core First Amendment values of free speech and an unfettered right to engage in political activity. Smith finds that campaign contributions have little corrupting effect on the legislature and shows that an unrestrained system of contributions and spending actually enhances equality. More money, not less, is needed in the political system, Smith concludes. Unfree Speech draws upon constitutional law and historical research to explain why campaign finance regulation is doomed and to illustrate the potentially drastic costs of efforts to make it succeed. Whatever one thinks about the impact of money on electoral politics, no one should take a final stand without reading Smith's controversial and important arguments.

Term Limits Or Campaign Finance Reform

Term Limits Or Campaign Finance Reform PDF Author: United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on the Constitution, Federalism, and Property Rights
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 120

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Book Description


Expression Vs. Equality

Expression Vs. Equality PDF Author: J. Tobin Grant
Publisher: Ohio State University Press
ISBN: 0814209653
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 154

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Book Description
In Expression vs. Equality, J. Tobin Grant and Thomas J. Rudolph argue that although public opinion plays a vital role in judicial rulings on the legalities of various finance reform options, political scientists have yet to realize fully the complexities and nuances of public attitudes toward campaign financing. The issue of campaign finance reform exposes a real conflict between the core democratic values of equality and expression. Economic inequalities, reformers argue, allow certain groups and individuals to exert undue influence in the political process, thereby threatening the democratic value of political equality. Opponents tend to frame the issue as a question of free speech: restrictions on campaign contributions are viewed as a threat to the democratic value of political expression. In the context of campaign finance, how do committed Americans rank the importance of equality and expression? How do they resolve the conflict between these competing democratic values? The answers to these questions, say the authors, depend heavily on whose influence and whose rights are perceived to be at stake. Using a series of unique experiments embedded in a national survey of the American electorate, they find that citizens' commitment to the values of expression and equality in the campaign finance system is strongly influenced by their feelings or affect toward those whose rights and influence are perceived to be at stake. Freedom of speech is more highly valued in contexts where the respondent agrees with the issue in question; equity, on the other hand, is more highly valued when the respondent disagrees with the issue. These findings have implications not only for the continuingpublic debate over campaign finance reform, but also for our understanding of how citizens make tradeoffs between competing democratic values.

Campaign Finance and Political Polarization

Campaign Finance and Political Polarization PDF Author: Raymond J. La Raja
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
ISBN: 0472052993
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 209

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Book Description
An illuminating perspective on the polarizing effects of campaign finance reform