1 Campaign Finance Rules: The Good, The Bad, & the Ugly MU MVZ 449 Spring 2010 Dave McCuan Masaryk University Topics For Us • Candidate-Centered campaigns • Campaign Finance rules, in general • Newer, recent campaign finance rules • Differences between REGULATION, REPORTING, & REFORM? 2 Money & Campaigns • Important issues • How much money is raised? • From what sources is money raised? • To whom does campaign money go? (why?) • Who raises the money? • Why is money raised? • How is the money spent? • What impact does money have on elections? Candidate-Centered Campaigns • What is the “candidate-centered” campaign? • Coined by Martin Wattenberg, UCI, refined to: “Candidates, not political parties, are the major focus of congressional campaigns, and candidates, not parties, bear the ultimate responsibility for election outcomes.” Herrnson, Congressional Elections, p. 8 3 Local party organizations: choose candidates, mobilize voters, etc. Candidate Voters: make choices between candidates, tend to be partisan choices Voters: makes choices between candidates in elections, less likely to be partisan choices Candidate: runs based on ambition, mobilize voters, etc. 4 Voters: makes choices between candidates in elections, less likely to be partisan choices Candidate: runs based on ambition, mobilize voters, etc. National & state party organizations: provide services Voters Candidate communication Primary and General Election -- two campaigns 5 Voters Candidate $$ Candidate Centered Campaign Ops • The BIG implications • Candidates are now responsible for raising the money, not the parties • Campaigns are more expensive now than they used to be • Reporting & regulating CF has increased compliance, but paradoxically, campaigns begin earlier than ever and are more costly than ever. • Moral: Reform = Backfiring of goals 6 Campaign Finance Rules • A little historical context • “Fat cats” • Examples • Professional politics & “marketing” of campaigns & elections Campaign Finance Rules • FECA • Enacted in 1971 • Goals • Limit impact of large donors, increase that of small donors • Improve accountability of campaigns and donors • Consequences • PACs • Procedures for public disclosure • Limited personal contributions of candidates 7 Campaign Finance Rules • Revenue Act of 1971 • Main goals: • Encourage individual political contributions through credits and deductions • Create system of public financing • Consequences • Tax check-off • Deductible political donations • Provision for “matching funds” Campaign Finance Rules • FEC Amendments of 1974 • Further goals of 1971 • Consequences • Caps on donations • Spending limits • Subsidizing of nominations, complete funding for general election • Limits on independent expenditures • Established the FEC 8 Campaign Finance Rules • FECA Amendments of 1976 • Consequences • Changed reporting requirements • “Soft” money provision Campaign Finance Laws • Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 • Goals • Close soft money loophole • Address proliferation of “issue ads” • Consequences • National party organizations can only spend hard money • State party organizations can only spend hard money on “federal election activities” • Only hard money can be spent on ads that refer to a clearly identified candidate • Altered contribution limits to parties and candidates 9 Campaign Finance Rules • Four types of direct donors • Individuals • Groups • Party organizations • Self-donation Campaign Finance Rules • Three types of hard money expenditures • Direct contributions • Coordinated contributions • Independent expenditures 10 Impact of the Rules on the Political Parties • Contributed to the decline of partybased campaigns • Made candidates more independent of political parties Impact of the rules on Pressure / Interest Groups • Created incentives for MANY groups to become involved in campaign funding • Altered the strategy of donations by interest groups in election campaigns 11 Impact of the Rules on Candidates for Office • Need to spend more time raising money, especially from a broader array of sources • Gives them more independence from the political party Other Impacts • Increased “professionalization” and • Earlier time periods; • Increasing role of “small” donors • Presidential elections • Congressional elections 12 Loopholes in the System • State level loopholes; • Focus on candidate-level regulation; • Soft money loophole; • Independent expenditures loophole; • Services loophole; Reform? • Do we need more reform? Why or why not? • What suggestions would you make?