CAMPAIGN FINANCE

Campaign Finance
Jasmine Guanzon
Political Science 1100
9 December 2014

CAMPAIGN FINANCE

Campaign Finance
Campaign finance has been quite the controversial topic in the past, moreover in the
possible future. What was once not even a topic of discussion for the founding fathers, is now a
more seriously considered topic in present day. What was once a well regulated and controlled
system, has been stripped down and put back together in a much different way than what the first
president--who put a ban on corporate contributions, could have possibly imagined.
Campaign finance can be traced quite a ways back in American history, although not
officially labeled as campaign finance at that time, there was still a way of going about it,
without involving money. Such as, once an individual was elected into office, they would reward
their supporters by giving them government jobs. Furthermore they would then tax these
employees to fund their political campaigns, politicians would then travel the state or country to
gain votes, which in turn led to the birth of modern political campaigns. (Gutierrez, 2014).
The first campaign regulation that was perceived successful was passed in 1867, this
regulation was fairly straightforward in the prohibition, in which military officers and
government employees were no longer allowed to demand money from yard workers. By 1905
President Theodore Roosevelt had asked that all corporate contributions be banned and by 1907
Congress had passed the Tillman Act. This then banned corporations and national banks from
contributing to candidates, however due to lack of enforcement contributions continued
(Gutierrez, 2014). Eventually Congress would move to control campaign expenditures through
the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) which took place in 1971 (Hubbard, 2013).
In light of the Watergate scandal, Congress began putting limitations on contributions,
where before individuals had the right to contribute as much money as they wanted, this was no
longer so. Eventually they were limited to quite lesser amounts of money to be given

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individually and money given to parties was considerably less as well. By this time it was 1976
and an immediate challenge to the change in law came about in Buckley v. Valeo, this brought
about a change in the money that could be donated by the individuals, from this also came
Political Action committees (PACS), they were created to represent businesses, unions, and
activists, although direct individual donations were limited, money donated to specific parties
began to rise (Hubbard, 2013).
In 2010 a more controversial court case came about Citizens United v. Federal Election
Commission, this court case changed many things, it allowed corporations to be considered
people under the First Amendment, additionally it allowed for the creation of Super PACS
(which can donated unlimited amounts) and allowed them to keep donations anonymous (Fellay,
2013). In 2014 another court case that was of high importance as well was that of McCutcheon v.
Federal Election Committee, this came about because of the limitations that were put on the
individuals who were contributing to a specific party, in this case the ruling was reversed and
allowed then removed the overall cap on what individuals could contribute (McCutcheon, et al.
v. FEC, 2014).
Recently there were Congressional races in Utah where a vote for congress took place, a
vote for four House of Representative seats, the amount of money spent throughout each District
was substantial in comparison to those who ran against those of the most money. Out of twentytwo candidates, the four who won are also the four who won the most money. To assume that
money doesnt sway political votes would in this case would seem incorrect, the candidate with
the most Mia Love received 90% of her contributions through individuals, not just individuals
but outside individuals, meaning not from the state in which she is representing. A mere 9% of
this was contributed through PACS although she only received 9% from PACS, this amount was

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more than half of the amount of money the runner up made in his entire campaign (Politicians
and Elections, 2014). Another example of a Congressional race took place in Louisiana, but in
addition to the House of Representatives there was also a Senate race. In this Race Mary
Landrieu (D) was the incumbent to this seat, over 130 years of this position being held by a
Democrat, although she spent the most money, she lost her position to runner up Bill Cassidy (R)
(Sullivan, 2014). Her contributions came mostly from individual contributions (69%), her next
highest donation was from the PACS (24%) (Politicians and Elections, 2014). In the end she did
not maintain her seat, this being such a rarity, it would seem hope prevails.
Perhaps it is time to add a 28th amendment, though the founding fathers didnt think of it,
I think is a good reason for why it should be included. I cant imagine they would be able to
think something so complex would transpire in the future, its far too complex of an issue to be
premeditated. Corporations shouldnt have equal rights in the Constitution, when money
contributions are involved with those who make our choices, it brings unfair balance to those
who are put in the race to begin with. Voting for the lesser of two evils or twenty two evils is
entirely unacceptable, it could be rectified if wed merely require those who would represent
us, to try and communicate with us of their own interest. Wondering if their secretly representing
another corporation and its interests is an unnecessary idea. Let them be supported by their own
money and the money contributed from the people in their representing areas, the peoples whose
interests they should have in mind. I think that change alone would provide a lot of insight into
who our elected officials would be.

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References

Fellay, S. (2013). Future of Campaign Finance. Harvard International Review, pp. 45-67.
Gutierrez, W. M. (2014, April). Campaign Finance: An Overview. Salem Press Encyclopedia, p. 1.
Hubbard, G. K. (2013). In Defense of Citizens United. Foreign Affairs, 162.
McCutcheon, et al. v. FEC. (2014, April 2). Retrieved from Federal Election Commission:
http://www.fec.gov/law/litigation/McCutcheon.shtml
Politicians and Elections. (2014). Retrieved from Center for Responsive Politics:
www.opensecrets.org
Sullivan, S. (2014, December). The meaning of Mary Landrieu's loss, by the numbers. Retrieved
from Washington Post: www.washingtonpost.com