Rethinking the Campaign Finance Agenda
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Michael J Malbin
For one-third of a century, federal campaign finance debates have been stuck in a corruption rut. Whether in Congress, FEC or the courts, most of the action has been about limiting contributions and certain expenditures. After defending the ban of soft money contributions to national political parties and questioning the effects of electioneering regulations, the article argues that whatever one's positions on these issues it is time to rethink the agenda for future research and action. Rather than focus on corruption prevention, research and policy should move to such positive goals as increasing electoral competition, candidate emergence and promoting equality through small donors and volunteers. The article concludes with initial survey research findings from an ongoing project on donor participation.
©2011 Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Article
- A Collapse of the Campaign Finance Regime?
- From Bad to Worse: The Unraveling of the Campaign Finance System
- Rethinking the Campaign Finance Agenda
- Decline and Fall? The Roberts Court and the Challenges to Campaign Finance Law
- Rolling in the Dough: The Continued Surge in Individual Contributions to Presidential Candidates and Party Committees
- Internet Fundraising in 2008: A New Model?
- Political Equality, the Internet, and Campaign Finance Regulation
- Financing the 2008 Congressional Elections: A Prospective Guide
- BCRA's Impact on the Political Expenditures of Corporate Interests
- The Interest Group Response to Campaign Finance Reform
- Finding the Cost of Campaign Advertising
- Is That a Bundle in Your Pocket, Or . . .?
- Whither Republican Women: The Growing Partisan Gap among Women in Congress
- Review
- Novak on Novak: A Review of Robert D. Novak's The Prince of Darkness: 50 Years Reporting in Washington
- Bridging Divides through Political Talk: Admirable Goal or Harmful Folly?
- Water Cooler Democracy: A Review of Hearing the Other Side: Deliberative versus Participatory Democracy by Diana C. Mutz
- Review of Richard Skinner's More than Money: Interest Group Action in Congressional Elections
- Review of Samples, The Fallacy of Campaign Finance Reform and La Raja, Small Change: Money, Political Parties, and Campaign Finance Reform
Articles in the same Issue
- Article
- A Collapse of the Campaign Finance Regime?
- From Bad to Worse: The Unraveling of the Campaign Finance System
- Rethinking the Campaign Finance Agenda
- Decline and Fall? The Roberts Court and the Challenges to Campaign Finance Law
- Rolling in the Dough: The Continued Surge in Individual Contributions to Presidential Candidates and Party Committees
- Internet Fundraising in 2008: A New Model?
- Political Equality, the Internet, and Campaign Finance Regulation
- Financing the 2008 Congressional Elections: A Prospective Guide
- BCRA's Impact on the Political Expenditures of Corporate Interests
- The Interest Group Response to Campaign Finance Reform
- Finding the Cost of Campaign Advertising
- Is That a Bundle in Your Pocket, Or . . .?
- Whither Republican Women: The Growing Partisan Gap among Women in Congress
- Review
- Novak on Novak: A Review of Robert D. Novak's The Prince of Darkness: 50 Years Reporting in Washington
- Bridging Divides through Political Talk: Admirable Goal or Harmful Folly?
- Water Cooler Democracy: A Review of Hearing the Other Side: Deliberative versus Participatory Democracy by Diana C. Mutz
- Review of Richard Skinner's More than Money: Interest Group Action in Congressional Elections
- Review of Samples, The Fallacy of Campaign Finance Reform and La Raja, Small Change: Money, Political Parties, and Campaign Finance Reform
