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Informationen zum Autor Robert E. Mutch is an independent scholar who specializes in the history of campaign finance. He is the author of Buying the Vote: A History of Campaign Finance Reform. Klappentext The campaign finance debate is about how we want our democracy to work. But it is conducted in terms of laws, regulations, and court decisions about super PACs, 501(c)(4)s, dark money, and even the IRS. This book explains how those laws and decisions fit into the larger debate about democracy. Zusammenfassung The campaign finance debate is about how we want our democracy to work. But it is conducted in terms of laws, regulations, and court decisions about super PACs, 501(c)(4)s, dark money, and even the IRS. This book explains how those laws and decisions fit into the larger debate about democracy. Inhaltsverzeichnis Acknowledgments Introduction 1 What is the campaign finance problem? What is the disagreement between supporters and opponents of reform? How big a problem is quid pro quo corruption? Whether the problem is political corruption or political inequality, campaign finance is about paying for election campaigns. How much do they cost? Do elections cost a lot more now than they used to? Is it true that the candidate with the most money always wins? Where do candidates get the money to pay for their campaigns? What is the role of political parties? How has Congress regulated money in elections? What is the state of the Federal Election Campaign Act today? 2 Watergate and Buckley v. Valeo What was Watergate? What was the campaign finance part of Watergate? How did Congress change campaign finance law after Watergate? Who were Buckley and Valeo? Why did Senator Buckley and the other challengers think the 1974 reforms were unconstitutional? How did the circuit court decide Buckley v. Valeo? How did the Supreme Court decide Buckley v. Valeo? How did the challengers, the defenders, and the justices deal with the reform goals of curbing campaign costs, preventing corruption, and promoting equality? Why is Buckley v. Valeo still important today? 3 The rise and fall of public funding How does the Presidential Election Campaign Fund work? Did Congress come up with the idea of public funding in response to Watergate? What did reformers hope to accomplish by using public funds to pay for elections? Why was Senator Long's public funding bill so controversial? If the income tax checkoff was so controversial in the 1960s, how did it survive the political battles in Congress? What happened to the tax incentives for small contributions that Congress passed in 1971? Why did the public funding program pay for the party conventions as well as the elections? Why did Congress repeal public funding for party conventions? How does the public funding program treat minor parties? How does the public funding program treat independents? Did public funding meet its goal of bringing in new, small donors? Public funding is also supposed to bring in new candidates. Did the presidential program do that? But participation in the tax checkoff had dropped by 2012. Did the same thing happen with public opinion? What kinds of public funding programs are the states enacting? Which states subsidize election campaigns? Which cities have public funding programs? How does New York City's public funding program work? How well did the presidential public funding program work? 4 Disclosure and the federal election commission What does the FEC do? Why did Congress create the Federal Election Commission? How does the FEC work? Is it like other independent agencies? How well does the current disclosure law work? How does the FEC enforce other parts of the FECA? Why are there so many partisan deadlocks on the FEC? Why has disclosure become...
