Money and politics in an election that broke the mold Beginning with the 1960 election, readers could turn to one book for an authoritative and comprehensive examination of campaign finance at the federal level. Now, the latest in this respected series, Financing the 2016 Election, explores the role of money in one of the most unconventional elections in modern American history. A team of leading scholars has dug into the roles played by political parties and special interest groups (including their “Super PACS”) in the presidential and congressional elections of 2016. David Magleby and his team of experts examined Federal Elections Commission reports and interviewed dozens of key participants, including representatives of virtually all the major interest groups active in the 2016 election cycle. They place that election in the context of how U.S. elections have been financed during recent decades—a context that illustrates how dramatically different campaign finance is today from the past. Among the most important changes has been the growth of so-called Super PACS, which have become increasingly important both in the financing they provide candidates and in their ability to act independently, both for and against candidates. Overall, Super PACS doubled their spending in 2016 from four years earlier. Taking a comprehensive approach, this book helps readers understand how the financing of elections—including the increasing reliance by candidates on outside special interest groups—ultimately affects politics and public policy.

An illuminating perspective on the polarizing effects of campaign finance reform

Since the 1960 national election, the nonpartisan Citizens¡¯ Research Foundation (CRF) has published a series of Financing the Election volumes, compiling reliable data on the costs and trends of campaign finance. For the 2000 edition, CRF and the Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy at Brigham Young University assembled leading political science scholars to analyze this historic election season where campaign finance was critically important. Candice J. Nelson of American University compares spending estimates in 2000 with previous election cycles, and discusses the implications of increased spending. John C. Green and Nathan S. Bigelow of the Roy Bliss Institute at the University of Akron look at the presidential nomination campaigns, while Anthony Corrado of Colby College explores the financing of the general election, including the unprecedented Florida recount battle. Paul S. Herrnson of the University of Maryland and Kelly D. Patterson of Brigham Young University review the close party balance in the House and Senate and its effect on the financing of congressional elections. Diana Dwyre of California State University-Chico and Robin Kolodny of Temple University put the role of political parties and their use of soft money in perspective. Alan J. Cigler of the University of Kansas investigates the ways interest groups attempt to influence elections. Anthony Gierzynski of the University of Vermont analyzes the impact of redistricting on gubernatorial and state legislative elections, while Roy A. Schotland of Georgetown University Law School examines the recent history and rising costs of judicial campaigns. Finally, Thomas Mann of the Brookings Institution discusses lessons the 2000 elections should teach us about the realities of financing elections and the implications for reform that emerged from this remarkable election. In setting forth the contours of American political finance, Financing the 2000 Election provides a unique reso

The passage of Citizens United by the Supreme Court in 2010 sparked a renewed debate about campaign spending by large political action committees, or Super PACs. Its ruling said that it is okay for corporations and labor unions to spend as much as they want in advertising and other methods to convince people to vote for or against a candidate. This book provides a wide range of opinions on the issue. Includes primary and secondary sources from a variety of perspectives; eyewitnesses, scientific journals, government officials, and many others.

In recent decades, and particularly since the US Supreme Court’s controversial Citizens United decision, lawmakers and other elites have told Americans that stricter campaign finance laws are needed to improve faith in the elections process, increase trust in the government, and counter cynicism toward politics. But as David M. Primo and Jeffrey D. Milyo argue, politicians and the public alike should reconsider the conventional wisdom in light of surprising and comprehensive empirical evidence to the contrary. Primo and Milyo probe original survey data to determine Americans’ sentiments on the role of money in politics, what drives these sentiments, and why they matter. What Primo and Milyo find is that while many individuals support the idea of reform, they are also skeptical that reform would successfully limit corruption, which Americans believe stains almost every fiber of the political system. Moreover, support for campaign finance restrictions is deeply divided along party lines, reflecting the polarization of our times. Ultimately, Primo and Milyo contend, American attitudes toward money in politics reflect larger fears about the health of American democracy, fears that will not be allayed by campaign finance reform.

The recent debate on the role of money in politics has shed the light on the challenges of political finance regulations. What are the risks associated with the funding of political parties and election campaigns? Why are existing regulatory models still insufficient to tackle those risks?

One of the most troubling critiques of contemporary democracy is the inability of representative governments to regulate the deluge of money in politics. If it is impossible to conceive of democracies without elections, it is equally impractical to imagine elections without money. Costs of Democracy is an exhaustive, ground-breaking study of money in Indian politics that opens readers’ eyes to the opaque and enigmatic ways in which money flows through the political veins of the world’s largest democracy. Through original, in-depth investigation—drawing from extensive fieldwork on political campaigns, pioneering surveys, and innovative data analysis—the contributors in this volume uncover the institutional and regulatory contexts governing the torrent of money in politics; the sources of political finance; the reasons for such large spending; and how money flows, influences, and interacts with different tiers of government. The book raises uncomfortable questions about whether the flood of money risks washing away electoral democracy itself.