David Adamany

Election Campaign Financing: The 1974 Reforms

The Federal Campaign Act of 19741 marks a major turning point in the regulation of political finance in the United States. First, it implements to an unprecedented degree the principal reform approaches born in the Progressive era, by placing ceilings on campaign expenditures, by setting low limits on contributions and imposing strict limits on the aggregate donations of individuals, by strengthening already sweeping requirements for full disclosure of campaign finances, and by establishing an independent agency to enforce political finance regulations. Second, as a major innovation, the act introduces public financing of campaigns-a step taken earlier by other democracies and by the American Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, widely debated in the United States, but not enacted on the state or national level until the Watergate era.

The New Faces of American Politics

Dramatic changes have occurred in American politics and campaign finance during the past decade. Many attribute these changes to the Federal Election Campaign Act, but modern campaign and fundraising technology have played a larger role. Together, they may have strengthened national political parties, but they have even more dramatically strengthened political action committees. Politics has also become more professionalized, bureaucratized, centralized, and nationalized. The financial constituency of politics has become more influential; the voting constituency has become increasingly removed from all aspects of politics—except casting ballots—that influence the outcomes of elections and shape national policy. These developments challenge deeply rooted beliefs about the preeminent role of voters in controlling democratic elections and government.

Science and the Urban University.

The potential for science to contribute to economic and civic life is of particular importance to urban centers with economic decline. For urban universities, the ability to adapt to changing needs and seize new opportunities has become vital. These universities must take the lead in curricular revision, research emphasizing the application of knowledge, arrangements with private economic enterprises, and public service to improve science and mathematics training in the schools.

The Sources of Money: An Overview

The American system of raising campaign funds does not conform to democratic theory. Money itself has qualities which distinguish it from other kinds of political resources. Few Americans contribute; those that do are disporportionately drawn from the upper socioeconomic classes; and big givers and special interests dominate cam paign financing. Equal citizen influence in politics is thwarted by these patterns. Although most individual and group con tributions divide along the same class and policy lines as divide the two major parties, there are many switch-givers who seek advantages by giving to either party or both. Con tributions tend to flow more readily to executive office candi dates, to powerful congressional figures, to incumbents, to close districts, and perhaps to ideological candidates. Wealthy contenders also have an edge. These imbalances diminish vigorous competitive campaigning, which is necessary to alert citizens to their choices in a democracy. Sweeping con gressional reforms in 1971 and 1974 probably reduce the influence of big contributors and broaden citizen participa tion through the income tax check-off. But they do not address other failures of the campaign financing system, and they may create new imbalances and inequalities of their own.

The Size-of-Place Analysis Reconsidered

Epstein’s general size-of-place hypothesis. First, there has been a growing emphasis in political science on rechecking proposed hypotheses by the use of new or additional data.2 Second, the Democratic party has won a series of gubernatorial and senatorial elections in Wisconsin since 1957. Professor Epstein had considered the possibility that Democratic incumbency might significantly lessen the traditional Republicanism of small towns and cities. But his analysis was limited by the fact that, at his most recent writing, the Democrats had scored but one victory and

Campaigns, Congress, and Courts: The Making of Federal Campaign Finance Law.

The First Laws From Teapot Dome to Watergate Money and Speech: The Debate Over Contribution and Spending Limits Disclosure, Enforcement, and the FEC Public Financing Unions, Corporations, and the Rise of PACs

PAC Power: Inside the World of Political Action Committees.@@@What Price PACs? Report of the Twentieth Century Fund Task Force on Political Action Committees.

This analysis of the workings of PACs and their influence examines the ways in which they raise huge sums of money, how they select candidates to back, and what they expect in return for support and assesses their effects on major parties.