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The Pros And Cons Of Campaign Finance Reform

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Many officeholders, legislators, and members of Academia argue that the supreme court decision Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission has single-handedly destroyed American democracy as we know it. This case is one of many that, in essence, allows legalized bribery to occur within the American political system, with most large money contributions to politicians coming from sizably influential corporations. Although many elected officials believe corporate money in politics strengthens democracy, it contrarily damages democracy and is the reason campaign finance reform is the greatest issue facing American politics. Since 1976, the US Supreme Court has ruled in favor of cases like Buckley v. Valeo and First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti, which claims corporations are considered people; and based on First Amendment rights, people are allowed to spend their money within the political arena. Citizens United v. FEC is the supreme court decision that has led to further corruption within the American campaign finance system, while halting efforts to minimize money in politics. Its fundamental claim was that money …show more content…

An example of this would be the chairperson of the Democratic National Committee, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, being one of Hillary Clinton’s campaign co-chairs during her 2008 presidential run. Considering the amount of power and influence the DNC’s chairperson has over the Democratic nominees, many feel it is necessary for her, at the very least, to disclose officially to the public, her position in Hillary’s 2008 campaign. This relates to campaign finance because in the short term, having elected officials of the same party seems to be a “win” for the party itself. To reform campaign finance the country must not put party politics above actual reform to a system that is corroding the basic principle of

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When people think of how government works, unless they’ve taken a government class, they usually think of Congress making laws and the President doing pretty much everything else. No one pays much attention to the Supreme Court unless there is a landmark case or something else to grab the news — like the recent death of Justice Antonin Scalia. But the Supreme Court does much more than you’d think regarding keeping the political machine running like a well-oiled … machine. Through not only interpretation of the law, but also judicial activism, the Supreme Court shows it can have as much influence over the laws of the land as either of the other branches of the federal government. In this paper, I will analyze the decision-making methods of the Court using the cases of Gideon v. Wainwright and Betts v. Brady.

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Political donations play an important role within the Australian Legal System. There are many cons and pros about this particular issue and debate about how it affects the Australian democratic system and if the law on it should be altered. A political donation is a donation of money to benefit candidates, political parties, member of Parliament to help with the funding of elections, political and community activities. Parliament of Australia (2012) has claimed that it’s “Establishing a funding scheme that ensures fairness and openness requires a legislative system that promotes an equitable distribution of resources among political parties and candidates and the timely disclosure of political donations and electoral expenditure”.

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I believe that all members of the Texas legislature should be term-limited. I think that since the President of the United States has term-limited. It would only be fair that all branches within the government to practice term-limited as well. So far, there has only been fifteen states that practice term-limited (Maine, California, Colorado, Arkansas, Michigan, Florida, Ohio, South Dakota, Montana, Arizona, Missouri, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Louisiana, and Nevada). Term limits can be divided into two categories: consecutive and lifetime.

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Gerrymandering is when district lines are drawn in such a way to give a party higher chance of getting there representatives in control of the state. Gerrymandering is a way that the government can control who has power and who does not. There is a lot of controversy behind this though some people think that politicians should not be in charge of drawing the districts that a group of un bias people should draw the boundaries. People that want to keep the process we have now that allows for gerrymandering argue that non bias people do not exist and to give the task to someone different would just lead to more gerrymandering. Gerrymandering is not new in fact its named after the first to do it in the united states Elbridge Gerry

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Is Gerrymandering a Controversial Topic? Gerrymandering is a process where the ruling political party uses the map of their state to draw lines that create voting districts in favor of their party. The result of this is that it doesn’t reflect the voters political views. For about 200 years the government has used gerrymandering during political elections and it continues to be used today (King, Elizabeth) .

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298 Words | 2 Pages

For several years, the law has treated corporations as metaphysical persons. This means that the law regards corporations as persons, but only for certain legal purposes. For example, corporations have some of the same rights as natural people do, such as the right to freedom of speech. Corporate personhood has evolved into a highly controversial topic since it was first established in the famous supreme court case, Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad. This was a case where the Southern Pacific Railroad protested taxes placed on it by several counties in California.

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Gerrymandering Gerrymandering is the redrawing of political boundaries, otherwise known as district lines, in a state to give one party a numeric advantage over the opposing party. This is done by dividing districts up into highly irregular sections to achieve the goal of having voters from a particular party highly concentrated in some areas and thinly scattered in other areas (Donnelly, Fortune). Gerrymandering has been criticized because it violates the two basic principles in electoral designation; compactness and equality of size of constituencies in electoral designation (The Editors, Britannica). There is currently no law against the process of Gerrymandering. However, the current Supreme Court case Gill v. Whitford could change that.

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We see multiple successes of voting equality attempted through amendments, however, the Supreme Court’s decision on Shelby County v. Holder has pushed back years and years of effort for voting rights. Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling was in Shelby County’s favor, stating that the Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act was unconstitutional along with Section 5. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr, who wrote the majority’s opinion, said that the power to regulate election was reserved to the states, not the federal government. As a result to the court’s decision, the federal government can no longer determine which voting law discriminates and can be passed. After the case, many states had freely passed new voting laws; the most common voting law states passed

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Democrats repeatedly encounter trouble with voicing consensus in a debate that centers more and more on the means of the established foreign policy rather than on its ends. In spite of common support for multilateralism and America’s role as a Global Good Samaritan, Democrats have teetered between the assertions of the “dove” and “hawk” wings of their party since the Vietnam War. As a result, the splintered facets of the Democratic Party have perpetuated the perception that Democratic political leaders are not relevant in the foreign policy arena. Furthermore, Democratic public servants (particularly Democratic Presidents) consistently present notions of America’s global leadership that demonstrates the divide among the party elite and the

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Joining a presidential race is as easy as tweeting. Really, it’s simpler than filling out a job application. Filling out the Federal Election Commission (or FEC) form from the website is the first step. This form is the official statement of candidacy. A name, address, political party, and a place to register an official campaign committee.

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Most of the incumbents that run for reelection win due to having their name out in public much more than others. The margin of victories for incumbents are growing with each election. The operation of Congress has changed since when the founding fathers constructed it. Congress today is seen to exhibit many ethic violations, and they are surrounded by scandal.

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Some players were calling over Estorian to ask to be interviewed and to tell her about their policy initiatives, while other players, when interviewed by Estorian, would describe what they would attempt to accomplish. The Republican players and the Democratic players were attempting to communicate with one another, as well as with the public, through the media, by describing their goals for this term. Players were also attempting to exert their influence while discussing legislation. Players had to take into consideration their own interests, especially since some players are up for reelection. For example, I am up for reelection, and the Democratic Party is coming after me by saying that I do not provide for lower-income constituents in my district.

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772 Words | 4 Pages

Based on the history of campaign finance reform mentioned above, it is uncertain if meaning reform will ever be instituted. Money in politics creates an unspoken quid pro quo relationship between the donor and recipient. This creates an imbalance in the system. Money is not freedom of speech and with millions of dollars that are raised for political parties; the general understanding is “he with most money wins.” The reason person can clearly see that even if corporations are concerned to be individuals, no individual freely gives large amounts of money without receiving something in

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1188 Words | 5 Pages

Money got the same meaning as “culture”. Men and women were disillusioned about politics, love, or family, but they believed that the most important is negotiable legal tender. “ On a chance we tried an important-looking door, and walked into a high Gothic library, paneled with carved English oak, and probably transported complete from some ruin overseas... He waved his hand toward the book-shelves. “About that...They’re real.”

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The Leonore Annenberg Institute for Civics video titled “Key Constitutional Concepts” explores the history of the creation of the United States Constitution in addition to key concepts crucial to the document. Two central themes explored in the video include the protection of personal rights and importance of checks and balances. The video strives to explain these concepts through Supreme Court cases Gideon v. Wainwright and Youngstown v. Sawyer. To begin, the video retraces the steps leading up to the Constitutional Convention in Virginia in 1787. It opens by explaining the conflict that led to the Revolutionary War and the fragility of the new nation.

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