...Any campaign finance reform must be structured within the framework of the Constitution. When examining the role of the government in situations of participation in political processes, the role as the protector of rights and privileges as identified in the Constitution must be weighed against its role as a regulator of the political process. A primary principle of the First Amendment is to protect and encourage the rights of individuals and organizations to participate in our civic process (Federal Campaign Finance Law). This right to be involved in the political system is an important privilege and should not be taken lightly. Any campaign finance reform must be structured within the framework of the Constitution. Disclosure requirements are observed as means to deter corruption by requiring that contributions made to elected officials and candidates are made public in federal elections. Disclosure allows voters to make up their own minds based on the information that is placed before them. Supreme Court Justice Louis Dembitz Brandeis believes, “Publicity is justly commended as a remedy for social and industrial diseases. Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants, electric light the most efficient policeman” (Brandeis, 97). Brandeis’ statement laid the groundwork of the Sunlight Foundation, which was founded on the idea that utilizing new technology to facilitate citizens with information concerning Congress, will lead to the reduction of corruption, ensure...
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...W4 Assignment 3 – Question 4 Campaign Finance Reform Campaign reform is a touchy subject. Democrats seem to be highly for stricter campaign finance reform while most Republicans seem to be against it. Most people that are in favor of stricter campaign finance reform because they feel that just because someone has more money does mean they should be able to control the government. In 2002, several provisions were enacted to end the usage of nonfederal money effecting federal elections. This is known as the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA). It outlines campaign finance law monitored and regulated by the Federal Election Commission. The Federal Election Commission’s website outlines the following provisions: • “Prohibiting national parties from raising or spending nonfederal funds • Requiring state, district and local party committees to fund certain "federal election activities" with federal funds (i.e. hard money) and, in some cases, with money raised according to new limitations, prohibitions, and reporting requirements (i.e. Levin funds), or with a combination of such funds. • Limiting fundraising by federal and nonfederal candidates and officeholders on behalf of party committees, other candidates, and nonprofit organizations” (Major provisions of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, para. 2) Soft money is defined as money that is beyond the limitations of federal campaign finance law and is considered nonfederal. Soft money can only...
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...How Campaign Finance Affects Electoral Outcomes (Name) (Subject) (Nature of Work) I. Introduction An electoral candidate can win an election if he has plenty of campaign finances. This seems to be the common wisdom that people believe in when it comes to the electoral success of candidates. However, such a statement is not easily verifiable. In fact, there are several factors involved in the determination of whether or not there is a correlation between the campaign finances used by candidates and the probability of winning due to these funds. It has been the contention of majority that for a candidate to get a seat or win the presidency, it is important that he spend lavishly. If this is the case, then incumbents, who are generally the ones equipped with the biggest campaign funds, have edge over challengers. It is also an assurance to potential challengers that if they manage to put up campaign funds, whether from contributors or from their own pockets, they are already assured of a win in the elections. With the government structure the United States have, generalizing for all sectors of the government, particularly during the electoral races, will be quite complex. Moreover, though it is very easy to make assumptions, such arguments could start crumbling once empirical studies of various experts on the subject of political science come to light. Factors such as policy decisions, party affiliations, popularity, etc. play a role in the...
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...of Congress who has been charged with ethics violations. State ethics investigators have charged Lt. Gov. Ken Ard with 69 counts of spending campaign money for his personal use and 23 counts of failing to disclose campaign expenses. Ard, who took office in November, has been under scrutiny since taking office for thousands of dollars of purchases, including meals and hotel rooms – particularly those made post-election – listed on his campaign finance reports. In a news release, the State Ethics Commission said it found probable cause for the charges and likely will send out a hearing notice. As lieutenant governor, Ard fills a part-time position with little real power, presiding over the state Senate and overseeing the state’s Office on Aging. The lieutenant governor also becomes governor should the governor die or resign from office. ethics investigators have charged Lt. Gov. Ken Ard with 69 counts of spending campaign money for his personal use and 23 counts of failing to disclose campaign expenses. Former South Carolina Lt. Gov. Ken Ard received 5 years probation, a 5,000 fine, and 300 hours in community services after pleading guilty to seven counts of violating the State Ethics Act. Ard pleaded to four counts of unlawful reimbursement of campaign contributions, two counts of falsely filing campaign reports, and one...
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...Influencing the Political Environment Issue On the heels of an investigation of Senator Torricelli by the Senate Ethics Committee for accepting campaign gifts from a contributor, Torricelli abandoned his 2002 reelection bid for U.S. Senate. Upon retirement, the ex-senator retained $2.9 million of remaining reelection campaign contributions. Torricelli quickly drew criticism because of his decision to contribute $65,000 of remaining funds to politicians who had influence over his personal business interests. Although Torricelli did not violate specific campaign financing laws, watchdogs argue loopholes allowed him to use campaign funds in ways they weren’t intended. Enforcing Campaign Finance Legislation In response to allegations of inappropriate use of campaign funds by Torricelli, the National Republican Senatorial Committee requested the Federal Election Committee apply current regulation of campaign finances. Under the current guidelines if a Senator does not seek reelection, they do not have legal authority to retain or make use of contributions. Instead, funds should be returned to the contributor. Rather than add more severe limits on how retired politicians use campaign funds, the current regulation of returning funds to contributors should be strictly enforced. Repairing the Revolving Door The Torricelli case is a strong example of the revolving door, as he was a senator who immediately began lobbying when he left office. This case and a number of recent...
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...Introduction The slow evolution of federal campaign finance regulations, beginning with the Tillman Act in 1907, undercuts dramatic proclamations that Citizens United indicates a privileged where corporate interests trump the public interest and politicians do the will of the highest bidder. Corporations in the early twentieth century not only faced scattered and weak enforcement of the Tillman Act's contribution ban and thus no great deterrent to violating the ban, but also exploited glaring legal loopholes that allowed them to bankroll their favored campaigns with relative ease. Even after the enactment of independent corporate expenditure restrictions, corporations faced minimal barriers to political spending on television or in other national media. Until the FEC's creation in 1974, the ban on independent corporate spending on elections was not rigorously enforced. The relevant time frame for evaluating the decision's practical consequences is, at the very longest, the period after Congress substantially amended FECA in 1974. Campaign contributions as emphasized here discusses the ways in which contributions are made to influence new or incumbent candidates to support a particular agenda based on factors that impact the candidate personally, such as the raising of significant funds to help a candidate be re-elected, or environmental issues to even social issues are of concern. Since the last decade, millions upon millions of dollars have been spent in state judicial...
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...order to fulfil their functions. These four are; Electioneering and endorsement, Lobbying, Publicity and Organising grassroots activities. I would argue that Lobbying and organising grassroots activities is the most effective method that a pressure group can use as it is direct access to legislators as well as important political figures, whereas the use of electioneering and PAC is effective in a way it is not highly consider. The1970’s campaign finance reforms considerable alter the role of pressure groups and political fundraising, consequently the reforms limited the amount a pressure group could give to a candidate in a federal election. Therefore, the reform encouraged the setting up of political action committees commonly known as PACs that could make donations. A PAC is an organisation whose sole purpose is to raise funds which is then given to candidate campaigns running for political office. The 2006 mid-term elections were the first to run under the McCain-Feingold law of 2002, which had significant changes to federal election finance. The 2006 mid—terms themselves were an opportunity for the Democrats to regain control of both houses of Congress, with these factors as well as it being the most expensive election to date — an increase of 25% on what was spent in 2002, a majority of this increase was by PACs. PAC spending in 2006 exceeded $1billion and also with an increased emphasis on hard-dollar fundraising meant that PACs grew in numbers and their importance since...
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...politicians get this money? They get this money by many different scenarios but the largest and most heated in debates scenario is that when politicians get money from corporations for money as long as they say some good words about the company. This heated debate has been named a campaign finance reform. A campaign finance reform is defined as the current effort in the United States to change and regulate the use of money in political campiagns. Should politicians be able to recieve this money for campaign use, and should there be a limit on how much money should be regulated? Campaign financing is crucial to winning a campaign. Everyone wants the best politicians in office and the politicians should have a right to recieve money from corporations to assist in their creation of a campaign to become the best politicians. This is a money world surrounded by economy, so how would politicians survive without the money they need. A campaign is not a liesure let alone inexpensive. Politicians need this money to even survive in...
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...Greg Westenkirchner November 21, 2004 Mr. Levinson Class B Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act of 2002 The Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA) was signed into law without much fanfare by President George W. Bush on March 27, 2002. President Bush believed that the bill was flawed, but decided to sign the bill anyways. He believed that taking some form of action was better than taking no action at all; even if it were flawed. The signing of the BCRA has resulted in a flurry of lawsuits and angered many people involved in politics. The two primary features of the BCRA are restrictions on party soft money and issue advocacy. First, the BCRA bans the raising of soft money by national parties and federal candidates or officials. It also restricts soft money spending by state parties on federal election activities. The BCRA does allow for soft money use under certain conditions. It allows the use of soft money for specified federal election activities by state and local parties as noted in the BCRA. Second, the BCRA regulates issue advocacy by creating the new term “electioneering communication” in federal election law. Electioneering communication is a political advertisement that refers to an identified federal candidate and is broadcast within 30 days of a primary election or 60 days of a general election. The purpose of regulating issue advocacy is to prohibit unions and certain corporations from spending treasury funds for electioneering...
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...Pickett Corporate Contributions to Political Campaigns Craig Allen SOC 120 Introduction to Ethics and Social Responsibility January 7, 2013 The recent election has got the blood boiling of many voters. Corporate contributions have become a major problem in the United States and affected and have affected many elections. I would like to discuss how money and greed can affect the decision of any candidate and cause them to betray their own personal beliefs and cause the betrayal to the people that they represent. I will also look at the issue using classical ethical and contemporary ethical theories, as well as looking at the issue through the view of utilitarianism. Any corporation should not be able make any contribution towards a campaign because then their ideas could become the candidates ideas even if a candidates is strongly against a subject that the corporation supports. We are going to look at the issue from the point of view of utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is a classical form of ethics that I will use to look at this issue. First off utilitarianism is described in our text book as a natural way to see if an act is the right thing to do or the wrong thing to do is to look at the consequences or the results of that action. (Mosser 2010) Looking at corporate contributions and seeing the type of candidates that the American people are being offered I believe that the corporations should not be allowed to contribute to a campaign. I do not see a problem, however, if an...
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...of their views on campaign finance reform fit this status quo. As with most issues, Republicans favor less legislation that would place limits on campaign funding. They often claim this would be a case of the government infringing on citizens’ rights to free speech. Democrats, on the other hand, are pushing for increased limits on campaign funding. They claim that the massive spending from very wealthy donors limits the influence of the average person. With that said, both parties accept an astounding amount of outside funding for their campaigns. In the 2016 election cycle, a total of more than 647 million dollars was raised by the 17 initial...
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...CAMPAIGN FINANCING Using financial clout to influence the outcome of an election is an age-old practice in America's politics, and all 50 states have published code sections that money is spent during such. These code sections are placed to provide both accountability and transparency. Elections and campaigns continue to become more expensive and the involved candidates are forced to seek funding from the private sector to cover these costs. The use of money to influence an election's outcome is seen as an expression of free speech by many. However, others believe that money has a corruptive influence on the candidates, which results in a net negative outcome. Each state, therefore, has the designated duty to regulate campaign finance either by imposing disclosure, by setting limits of contribution or by providing a system where elections are publicly funded, all these to promote political equality. I believe that campaign finance reform has failed to prevent corruption and to promote even political equality, and thus I oppose it. An article written in 2003 in the journal of economic perspectives published the results of a study of about forty peer reviewed studies that had been published from the year 1972. The study showed that more contributions had no significant statistical effects with regards to legislation; the legislators were staunch to stand by their beliefs, those of their voters and even stood by their parties. A corrupt legislator will not be swayed by the prospect...
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...The Occupy Wall Street of 2011 in Zuccotti Park in New York and the rest of the country and the 15M campaigns in Spain failed to turn public mobilizations into mechanisms in delivering concrete changes partly because the protesters became spectators of their own protests that led into failing to build a hybrid between a social movement and a political party that does not have leaders, but has spokespeople and an organizational structure that lasts more than few months. The candidacies and policies of real progressives like Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Congresswoman Donna F. Edwards (Maryland) and Mayor Bill de Blasio and the 72 members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus could provide the best hope for permanent hybrid political...
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...Greenpeace 4. Agenda setting. Influence policy discussed by legislatures or the executive. Eg. UK: 38 Degrees rejection of 2012 NHS Bill. US providing voting cues for party members eg. Democracts may adhere to voting cues from ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) 5. Scrutiny. Scrutiny of government action and Supreme Court decisions (mainly in the US). Eg. US: ACLU & NRA court cases to monitor the affects of the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act 2002. UK: UK Uncut protests in Oct 2011 against the NHS Bill. Pressure group methods 1. Influence politicians. Eg. US: lobbying members of Congress, providing voting cues. UK: BMA and Royal College of Physicians urge PM to scrap NHS Bill. 2. Endorsement. Eg. US Mitt Romney attended NRA 2011 National convention. National Right to Life endorsed McCain in 2008. Also through donations to PACs. UK: 2010 Unite donated £1m to Labour party to support campaign. 3. Publicity and campaigns. Eg US: NRA 2012 “Get out the vote” campaign. UK: May 2011 Police Federation anti police cuts ad campaign showing dangers of cuts to child protection services – condemned by the Home Office. 4. Organised action. eg. UK: Uncut protests Oct 2011 against the NHS Bill. US: Occupy Wall Street since Sept 2011. What determines success or failure? 1....
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...Jequondria Huff U.S. Government Prof. Eaton 12/11/2015 It may not work in Politics Illinois Republican Aaron resigned after he may have broken house ethics rules and campaign financing laws. There were constant questions over a six weeks period. Rep Aaron Schock gave a statement. He stated “That he would resign because it was hard to serve the people of the 18th District with the high standard that they deserved in which he has set for himself. On March 31, 2015 Aaron Schock quit congress when question arose about how he spent his office allowance and campaign cash. The term started to fall apart in the 4th term which congressman Schock gave stories about redecorating an office that was posted in the Washington. Questions soon surfaced over his travels reimbursements and property dealing with donors and over lavish trips on official funds. There were also a number of suspicious expenditures of spurred ethics. Complaints for liberal learning citizens for responsibility and ethics in Washington. The office of Congressional ethics opened an investigation into Schocks spending practices on Feb. 28, 2015. They begin to contact people in Schock orbit. The panel does not have subpoena. The office of Congressional typically precedes a formal investigation by the House of Ethics Committee. Once Schock leave Congress the investigation will stop, but Department of Justice or the Federal Election Commission could open inquiries of their own. Rep. Schock had appeared...
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