1. campaigns
5.8

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

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

4. 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.

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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?

12. 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.