campaigns 5.8

Campaign Finance EXPENSIVE In the 2000 election more than 1.1 billion was raised and spent

Before the 1970’s Candidates for public office received donations from businesses, labor, organizations and individuals to finance campaigns

Federal Election Campaign Act FECA 1971 Restricted the amount of campaign funds that can be spent on advertising, Required disclosure of campaign contributions and expenditures Limited the amounts candidates and their families can donate to their own campaigns Allowed tax payers to donate on their tax forms.

Federal Election Commission FEC 1974 After Watergate Amended FECA to establish the Federal Election Commission To enforce the act, to administer and enforce campaign finance laws Established public financing for presidential candidates in primaries and the general elections Prohibited foreign contributions Placed limitations on individual contributions to presidential candidates Restricted the formation of PAC’s and the amount they could contribute Further amended in 1976 and 1979

Buckley v. Valeo Spending limits established bye the FECA were constitutional Self financed campaigns ban was also unconstitutional Violated the first amendment free expression Complicated congressional efforts to enact significant campaign finance reform

Soft Money vs. Hard Money Donations to political parties to be used for general purposes, NOT directly coordinated with candidates Often used to circumvent limitations on hard money contibutions Hard money Donations directly to a political candidate Soft money originally used for Voter registration drives, national party conventions, and issue ads. Parties were allowed to raise unlimited funds because it was not used for campaigning However it was being spent in ways that helped the candidates By 2000 soft money donations had exceeded $400 million 1996 saw new questions about the use of soft money

Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCPA) 2002 Led by John McCain and R. Feingold (McCain Feingold act is another name) Banned the use of soft money in federal campaigns Increase the 1974 limits on individual and group contributions In 2004 saw the creation of “527 organizations” Largely unregulated tax exempt interest group that focuses on a single policy and attempts to influence voters. Not regulated by the FEC as they don’t donate directly to a candidate In 2004 527 groups spent over 420 million on political campaigns After 2004 new regulations on 527 groups Regulated their use of soft money Allowed the FEC to examine expenditures

Citizens United 2012 Ruled that limiting the amount of money businesses, unions and other groups can spend on their own efforts to elect or defeat candidates for office is unconstitutional Critics worried that the financial influence of corporations on campaigns would be able to overpower the influence of the citizenry

Modern Campaigns Costs have skyrocketed In 1988 a combined 60.3 million was spent during the primaries In 2008 a combined 408 million was spent during the primaries

debates over free Speech, fair elections and campaign funding Summarize the arguments over whether limiting campaign finances is a limit on free speech, do limits on campaign donations by big companies make elections more or less fair, why?

Does the Electoral College and the Winner take all system facilitate (help) or impeded democracy? Based on the information in this unit on the electoral college and the winner take all system, write a paragraph answer to this question. Use information from the unit to support your answer.