Soft Money Evolution: Transient State of Federal Campaign Finance Laws (original) (raw)

The Deep Patterns of Campaign Finance Law

Why has American campaign finance law long suffered from doctrinal confusion and sparked bitter ideological conflict? This Article demonstrates that these attributes are rooted in a judicial dispute over the cognitive and social characteristics of central actors in elections. The Article unpacks the foundations of campaign finance law through a multi-tiered analysis of case texts. It first explicates the doctrinal deficiencies that riddle the Supreme Court's campaign finance jurisprudence. These flaws reflect the Court's clumsy engagement with democratic theory, which has been an unrecognized driver of campaign finance law and the wellspring of the partisan dispute. Conservatives assert that the pillar of democracy is free participation in the marketplace of information, and subsequently reject restriction of campaign financing even when advanced in the name of anticorruption. Conversely, liberals perceive democracy as vulnerable to systemic corruption from plutocratic influences and thus endorse regulatory oversight of campaign spending. The latter half of the Article excavates the origins of this conflict: the factions adopt divergent positions on the cognitive and social attributes of political actors (voters, candidates, donors, and public officials). As these positions inform the factions' theories of democracy, the campaign finance quagmire can be traced to political and psychological assumptions present in the cases. Progress in campaign finance law demands revision of the relationship between these assumptions and contemporary electoral realities.

The Forty-Year War on Money in Politics: Watergate, FECA, and the Future of Campaign Finance Reform

2016

This article examines the 40 year history of the post-Watergate campaign finance reforms. Since Watergate, federal campaign finance law has been based on a model of low contribution limits and unlimited expenditures. That long experience provides sufficient evidence to ask and answer a fundamental question: Are we better off today than we were before the Watergate era campaign finance reforms? The thesis of this article is that the answer to that question is no. In fact, in many respects, the current system is worse than that which prevailed before Watergate. This article concludes that contrary to the polarizing rhetoric that surrounds the national debate over campaign finance law, the historical record indicates that both reformers and their opponents offer reasonable policy alternatives to the dysfunctional system that prevails today. For example, twentieth-century political history at the federal level and ongoing experience at the state level demonstrate that a deregulated camp...

Campaign Finance Reform: Restoring Trust in American Democracy

George Washington Institute , 2024

Campaign finance reform is a critical issue for the health of American democracy. Rising campaign costs have led to increased influence of wealthy individuals and corporations, eroding public trust in government. This research examines the current state of campaign finance laws, their effectiveness in limiting the influence of money in politics, and potential reforms to strengthen democratic accountability. By analyzing recent court cases, campaign finance data, and public opinion surveys, the study offers recommendations to restore public confidence in the electoral process!