Campaign Finance in the Age of Super PACs

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Cox
Keyword(s):  
Campaign Finance ◽  
Super Pacs

Interest Groups and Elections

2019 ◽  
pp. 339-357
Author(s):  
Jeffrey M. Berry
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Interest Groups ◽  
Campaign Finance ◽  
Organizational Forms ◽  
Super Pacs ◽  
New Organizational Forms ◽  
Winner Take All ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Take All

The relationships between interest groups, political parties, and elections have always been dynamic, but in recent years change has accelerated in ways that have favored some interests over others. This chapter considers these developments as the result of a variety of factors, the most critical of which are the growth of polarization, a new legal landscape for campaign finance, and new organizational forms. The chapter goes on to suggest, that as bipartisanship has ebbed, elections have become winner-take-all affairs and interest groups are pushed to choose sides. The chapter further suggests that the rise of super PACs is especially notable as wealthy individuals have become increasingly important, single sources of campaign money, supplanting in part traditional interest groups, especially conventional PACs. It concludes that even as sums spent by super PACs and other interest groups have skyrocketed, the impact of their direct spending on persuading voters remains uncertain.

Campaign Finance

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert E. Mutch
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
Campaign Finance ◽  
Court Decisions ◽  
Federal Election ◽  
Federal Election Commission ◽  
Super Pacs ◽  
The One ◽  
Election Commission

The one percent has been providing an ever larger share of campaign funds since the 1980s. Well over half of the money contributed to the presidential race in 2015 came from only about 350 families. One-fourth of it came from just seventy-eight donors, all of whom made contributions of $1 million or more. Can we still say we live in a democracy if a few hundred rich families provide such disproportionate shares of campaign funds? Congress and the courts are divided on that question, with conservatives saying yes and liberals saying no. The debate is about the most fundamental of political questions: how we define democracy, and how we want our democracy to work. The debate may ultimately be about political theory, but in practice it is conducted in terms of laws, regulations, and court decisions about PACs, super PACs, 527s, 501(c)(4)s, dark money, the Federal Election Commission, and even the IRS. This book explains how those laws, regulations, and court decisions fit into the larger debate about how we want our democracy to work.

scholarly journals Campaign Finance in the Era of Super-PACS

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert G. Boatright
Keyword(s):  
Campaign Finance ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Political Campaigns ◽  
Federal Election ◽  
Citizens United ◽  
Political Advertisements ◽  
Federal Election Commission ◽  
Super Pacs ◽  
American Tradition ◽  
Election Commission

The regulations concerning how American political campaigns are financed have changed dramatically over the past decade. The US Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision (2010) removed restrictions on corporate and labor spending on elections. A subsequent decision in American Tradition Partnership v. Bullock held that the ruling also applied to state elections. The Supreme Court’s decision ultimately led to the establishment of “super PACs” as a result of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals opinion in SpeechNow.org v. Federal Election Commission, which held that political committees that only spend money independently in support of candidates are not subject to federal contribution limits but must comply with disclosure rules. Super PACs were thus permitted to use unlimited contributions to finance independent advocacy spending. While super PACs cannot give money directly to candidates or directly coordinate their efforts with candidates or parties, within a short amount of time they developed the ability to come quite close to serving as parallel campaign organizations. Not coincidentally, total spending on presidential and congressional elections increased substantially in the election cycles following the decision. The Citizens United decision did not merely increase spending in these elections, however; it shifted the balance in spending away from candidates and parties and toward groups. This prompted a variety of changes, as well, in the content of political advertisements; in public attitudes toward campaign finance; and in the ability of citizens to know the sources of campaign money. However, not all changes in campaign finance were a consequence of the Citizens United decision; candidate fundraising practices, advertising strategies, communication techniques, and many other activities related to the campaign finance system are constantly evolving. This literature review focuses on the origins of the Citizens United decision, ways in which we might measure its consequences for campaign spending, and the broader consequences for American democracy of campaign finance laws and practices.

Super PAC Spending Strategies and Goals

The Forum ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana Dwyre ◽  
Evelyn Braz
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Campaign Finance ◽  
The Past ◽  
Super Pacs ◽  
Spending Patterns ◽  
Individual Candidate ◽  
Super Pac

AbstractSuper PACs can raise and spend money in unlimited amounts, but what do they do with their money? What goals do super PACs pursue in allocating their money? We analyze how super PACS spent their money in the 2012 federal elections. What principles guided super PAC spending strategies? Do they follow strategies similar to traditional PACs? We argue that their spending patterns have changed the dynamics of federal campaign finance by directing more funds to individual candidate races than in the past, particularly through candidate-specific super PACs. We find that most super PACs spend their money differently than conventional PACs in that they are less interested in access to sitting lawmakers and more focused on an electoral strategy to affect the partisan composition of government. Thus many super PACs behave more like political parties than traditional PACs.

How Super PACs Have Transformed the Federal Campaign Finance System: A Political Scientists' Amicus Brief to the Supreme Court.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Baker ◽  
Robert G. Boatright ◽  
anthony j corrado ◽  
Diana Dwyre ◽  
John Green ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Supreme Court ◽  
Campaign Finance ◽  
Finance System ◽  
System A ◽  
Super Pacs ◽  
The Supreme Court
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