Campaign finance in the United States

Democracy for Sale Five years ago Citizens United spearheaded a campaign to steal the people's power and unfortunately the Supreme Court decided to rule in favor of the controversial right-wing group, in the devastating ruling of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. This disastrous move by the "Supreme Court scrapped the previous campaign finance laws and essentially declared that companies are allowed to buy politicians by circumventing restrictions via PACs, political action committees" (Tedford), thus stealing the power of the masses and giving our power to those whose bank accounts resemble that of a country's population. Sadly, the affluent 1% of Americans hold more power than the other 99% of this nation because of the current government's pay to win democracy. Without any…

citizens of the United States have, at one point or another, been taught that America is a nation founded on the principles of a democratic society. Principles that, forged in the crucible of war, endow it citizens with an undeniable right to directly participate in the political process. America’s Forefathers would be profoundly disappointed, however, to learn that the unchecked influence of special interest has sullied the very fabric of United States politics. The Founding Fathers, in spite…

Campaign finance reformers would most like to see a cap placed on how much can be spent “independent” of campaigns just as there is a cap with how much can be contributed directly to a campaign. Unfortunately, Citizens United quashed any notion of spending caps because as previously stated the Court feels caps would inhibit free speech. Caps would help equalize the influence between the wealthy and the non-wealthy, and discourage bribery and extortion. Also, contribution limits would improve…

American election campaigns are unique in many ways. Many other nations look to us as a beacon of hope for democracy, the gold standard for a republic, and the perfect example for elections and election campaigns. While we may be a beacon of hope and to some the gold standard, we are far from perfect in any regard – especially within our campaigning and election system. In the United States, campaign finance reform can seeming gain no traction in congress or the supreme court. There is always…

Donald Trump made a pledge earlier this year, stating: “I’m using my own money. I’m not using the lobbyists. I’m not using donors. I don’t care. I’m really rich.” According to Politico, he will need over $1.5 billion in campaign money to achieve United States Presidency (Gold). If that amount is multiplied by the twenty candidates currently running for president, then over $30 billion could potentially be spent on the presidency! That is over 600,000 times more than the average U.S. family…

all speech has value and needs to face criticism equally in a public sphere. Campaign contributions destroy the marketplace by expelling the views of average citizens in exchange for the views of corporate donors that don’t have the opportunity to have their views scrutinized by the public. Their views are safe from criticism because they are able to shield their views through backdoor talks with candidates. According Samuel Issacharoff, a professor of Constitutional Law at the New York…

Throughout the years the amount of money that presidential candidates spend on their campaigns have tremendously increased. The amount of money that individuals and interests groups put towards these campaigns is a ridiculous amount, and political candidates have began a movement to increase the dependence on the expenses of television advertisements. In the 1970s there were many changes and adjustments to the campaign reform act. Starting in 1971, the Revenue Act was established which is a…

Some proponents of term limits believe that political PACs would lose some of this power if term limits were imposed because it would disrupt the relationships between candidates and PACs by constantly rotating the politicians in power. However, the agencies that are sophisticated and eager to deploy their money in Washington and, as Sandra Day O’Connor wrote in the 2003 Supreme Court Case that upheld most of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, “Money, like water, will always find an outlet” In…

politics, name recognition is of the utmost importance. It is significant reason why Hillary Clinton had such a large lead over her two opponents early on in the primary season. If people are aware of a candidate, they will be more likely to pledge this support to them. It is chiefly for this reason that third parties continuously find themselves lagging behind in the polls and unknown to the vast majority of the American electorate. All of the factors that handicap third-parties in the…

Corruption has crippled American politics since this great country’s first establishment, and corruption hasn’t seemed to slow down any. The Parr family stands out from most political corruptness offenders because of the power they gained and the fact that the Duval County population demographically usually would not be known to support the kind of people the Parr were. But the people of Duval County supported the Parr’s. The Parr’s rise and fall is what this books teaches you. This book talks…