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Pros And Cons Of The Campaign Conundrum

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The Campaign Conundrum Is the United States regressing into an oligarchy in which legislative representatives side with the rich instead of their constituents? One critical component of a representative democracy is the way in which elections and campaigns are run. Campaign finance reform is a heavily debated topic that has become increasingly relevant in light of the 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commision (FEC) Supreme Court decision to lift restrictions on soft money, which is money that isn’t directly connected with a campaign, in an effort to protect the First Amendment rights of unions and corporations. This decision nullified much of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002. The BCRA established limits on soft money contributions, …show more content…

As mentioned previously, the case led to a national decrease in regulation. This decrease in regulation becomes even more relevant in a discussion of how candidates abuse the law, as opposed to how corporations abuse the law (Graham). Loopholes began to emerge immediately following Citizens United due to the ambiguity between national and state law. For example, Colorado was penalized in a “state Integrity investigation for having a loophole that allows corporations to donate directly to political parties. That practice is expressly forbidden in state law, as are corporate donations to candidates” (Schrader). Moreover, candidates are now less likely to choose to raise money in traditional ways. Candidates are finding new and innovative ways to sidestep the law in an attempt to utilize many of the loopholes that exist and have yet to be resolved. For example, Colorado representative Jared Polis raised “well over $1000 in Bitcoin contributions in less than 24 hours since his site went live” (Fitzpatrick). The contributions continued to rise and although Bitcoin contributions have always been legal up to $100 under the FEC, Bitcoin fluctuates wildly and the value of Bitcoin skyrocketed over the contribution limit. Congressman Polis, whether with or without intent, had violated FEC regulations by receiving these contributions. The FEC and state regulation of campaign finance exist to keep campaigns fair and equitable so voters can clearly determine who to vote for. When candidates are able to out raise their competitors by avoiding the law, the whole purpose is undermined (Graham). This ambiguity and lack of regulation for such a critical democratic institution has caused Colorado candidates to actively pursue loopholes as they

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The Bipartisan Reform act of 2002, which is also known as McCain Feingold Act is a United States federal law that changed the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, and adjusted the financing of political campaigns. It included many arrangements to end the use of “soft money”, which is a contribution to a political party that is not assumed as going to a specific candidate, and ignores many legal limitations. It banned national parties from raising or spending non federal funds, limited fundraising by federal and non-federal candidates and officeholders on behalf of party committees, other candidates, and non profit organizations. The act was proposed by John McCain and Rusell Feingold. They were both senators that kept promoting the passing

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For partisan judicial elections, candidates are selected by and affiliated with a political party whereas nonpartisan judicial elections “require candidates to campaign unaffiliated with any political party, and they appear on the ballot without a party designation” (Hemmens, Brody, & Spohn, 2013). Partisan elections allowed for judges to be responsive to the same forces as those given to other elected officials; therefore, the concern of this feature caused for a shift leading away from partisan elections to nonpartisan. This is because these elections “reduced the influence party politics have on judicial elections, they also remove party identification as a basis for voters to cast their ballots” (Hemmens, Brody, & Spohn,

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Lee H. Hamilton, a former congressman in the House of Representatives, wrote, The Case for Congress, to share some of the criticisms he has heard over the years and to explain the effects of such opinions. Hamilton speaks of three main criticisms: “Congress is run by lobbyists and special interests”, “Congress almost seems to promote total gridlock”, and “There’s too much money in Politics” (Hamilton 2004). For each of these criticisms, Hamilton explains these thoughts and his opinion on the matter. The strongest point of Hamilton’s argument was in defending the lobbyists in Congress. Hamilton (2004) said the public opinion of lobbyists is that “Congress is manipulated by powerful wheel-dealers who put pressure on legislators and buy votes through extensive campaigns and other favors” (p. 83).

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In the past few years, the United States has seen a huge spike in the money spent in federal elections (See Appendix 4.B). Not only have candidates been making greater efforts to communicate their ideas to the American public, but super PACs have also been displaying their support for candidates and their political policies; they do so by using their right to accept unlimited donations from the public and later, use that money to promote certain candidates, or to sway voters in a desired direction. The immense power that super PACs have to sway voters has come under harsh criticism, spurring the creation of new laws and limits on the super PACs in an attempt to keep them in check and to avoid possible corruption. These limits on super

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“Party Games: The Art of Stealing Elections in the Late-Nineteenth-Century United States,” written by Mark Wahlgren Summers, discusses the elements of trickery and manipulation utilized by Democrats, Republican, and Populists during the Gilded Age in efforts to get their party’s candidate(s) into office. As the text points out, “the broad range of party tricks obscured the people’s will, occasionally thwarted it, and cast a moral cloud over the winner’s title” (425). All of these political schemes that the parties in the Gilded Age were privy to, basically made a mockery of the democracy in the United States. Instead of being represented by the people, America was represented by a bunch of scoundrels, also known as politicians.

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According to information provided by The Sunlight Foundation, a non-partisan non-profit organization whose goal is increasing transparency and accountability in the United States Congress, political action committees, employees and their family members of interests in the three sectors have contributed more than $51 million over the years to lawmakers either on committees overseeing the reform process or closely involved with crafting

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Supporters of this decision argued that money does not corrupt, while critics believe that it is basically bribery (Montana). In 2011, the state of Montana tried to challenge the US Supreme Court decision by arguing that outside money caused corruption. Montana wanted to uphold their 1912 Corrupt Law, which banned corporations from giving money to campaigns and also acquired disclosure on who gave money to campaigns (Big Sky). The state did not want outside groups manipulating the message and ads of their elections or influencing voters. When it came to the court decision, the court made a 5-to-2 vote, stating that the state of Montana “cannot ignore the Citizens United decision” (Montana).

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Do you feel insignificant during elections? Do you worry that there is too much money in politics? Do you believe that campaigns are corrupt? All these common worries become real issues in 2010 with Citizens United v. FEC: a Supreme Court ruling that will forever be significant to elections. The Citizens United ruling "opened the door" for unrestricted campaign spending by corporations, but most importantly the case led to the formation of groups called super PACs: corporations or labor unions that have the ability to use its general treasury and unlimited donations to influence elections.

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Thereby, the world of politics became polluted with mass corruption and senators who cared too little for the interests of their constituents. This prompted many to push for the passing of Sherman’s Antitrust Act to limit the undue influence of big business on politics. The lack of comprehensive legislation to regulate trusts and monopolies, such corporations were

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This essay will discuss the impact of lobbyist on legislation in Washington, DC and the amount of dollars spent to influence federal policies. Throughout a normal day in Washington DC, the hustle and bustle of lobbyist is taking place in the Capital building, White House and along K Street, which is the home of many of the lobbying firms. There are special interest groups, corporations and industries that hire in-house lobbyist or lobbyist firms to influence legislation to benefit their cause. For example, some of these causes may include, but are not limited to tax breaks, subsidies and changes to current regulations or laws.

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Today, we still find significant concerns for how vast and powerful interest groups and their associated PACs have become over the past few decades, and their far reaching ability they have to affect even the highest court in the

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Correspondingly to the rising corruption in government, President Theodore Roosevelt gave a speech addressing the issue of rising corruption and what the government has done to end said corruption (Doc. 2). President Roosevelt informs the audience that the government has put regulations on business corporations as a solution to alarming monopolies and political machines (Doc. 2). When analyzing President Theodore Roosevelt’s speech at Rhode Island, it is evident that the purpose is to convince the audience that the government is trying to protect the citizens from big businesses by placing regulations. Furthermore, when inspecting the voting system, Americans spotted flaws that made the system not as just as it was perceived. It is unmistakable that voting is corrupt because many citizens suffer through the pressure of being subconsciously forced to vote for their alderman (Doc.1).

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Today, much like in the Gilded Age, political corruption is evidently clear. As a new President was elected in 2016, the promises of “draining the swamp of corruption in Washington” and fixing “a rigged system in which political insiders can break the

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