The Fallacy of Campaign Finance Reform
By John Samples
()
About this ebook
At first glance, campaign finance reform looks like a good idea. McCain-Feingold, for instance, regulates campaigns by prohibiting national political parties from accepting soft money contributions from corporations, labor unions, and wealthy individuals. But are such measures, or any of the numerous and similarly restrictive proposals that have circulated through Washington in recent years, really good for our democracy?
John Samples says no, and here he takes a penetrating look into the premises and consequences of the long crusade against big money in politics. How many Americans, he asks, know that there is little to no evidence that campaign contributions really influence members of Congress? Or that so-called negative political advertising actually improves the democratic process by increasing voter turnout and knowledge? Or that limits on campaign contributions make it harder to run for office, thereby protecting incumbent representatives from losing their seats of power?
Posing tough questions such as these, Samples uncovers numerous fallacies beneath proposals for campaign finance reform. He argues that our most common concerns about money in politics are misplaced because the ideals implicit in our notion of corruption are incoherent or indefensible. The chance to regulate money in politics allows representatives to serve their own interests at a cost to their constituents. And, ironically, this long crusade against the corruption caused by campaign contributions allows public officials to reduce their vulnerability by suppressing electoral competition.
Defying long-held ssumptions and conventional political wisdom, The Fallacy of Campaign Finance Reform is a provocative and decidedly nonpartisan work that will be essential for anyone concerned about the future of American government.
John Samples
John Samples is director of the Center for Representative Government at the Cato Institute and an adjunct professor of political science at the Johns Hopkins University.
Read more from John Samples
The Struggle to Limit Government: A Modern Political History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWelfare for Politicians?: Taxpayer Financing of Campaigns Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to The Fallacy of Campaign Finance Reform
Related ebooks
The Financiers of Congressional Elections: Investors, Ideologues, and Intimates Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDry Bones Rattling: Community Building to Revitalize American Democracy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Framers' Intentions: The Myth of the Nonpartisan Constitution Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCalifornia Crackup: How Reform Broke the Golden State and How We Can Fix It Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Citizen Lawmakers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Prisonhouse of Nations - America! Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Initiative and Referendum in California, 1898-1998 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCampaign Finance Reform: The Shifting and Ambiguous Line Between Where Money Talks and Speech is Free Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSaving Free Speech...from Itself Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTyrants on Twitter: Protecting Democracies from Information Warfare Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPresidential Party Building: Dwight D. Eisenhower to George W. Bush Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsImmigration Matters: Movements, Visions, and Strategies for a Progressive Future Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Democracy Fix: How to Win the Fight for Fair Rules, Fair Courts, and Fair Elections Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSummary of Ira Katznelson's When Affirmative Action Was White Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Conservative Assault on the Constitution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Freedom Handbook Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Right’s First Amendment: The Politics of Free Speech & the Return of Conservative Libertarianism Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLaw and Order: Street Crime, Civil Unrest, and the Crisis of Liberalism in the 1960s Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPlaying Against the House: The Dramatic World of an Undercover Union Organizer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summary of Ian Haney Lopez's Dog Whistle Politics Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPeople Like Us: The New Wave of Candidates Knocking at Democracy’s Door Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Pro-Growth Progressive: An Economic Strategy for Shared Prosperity Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsInsiders Talk: Glossary of Legislative Concepts and Representative Terms Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Right to Lie?: Presidents, Other Liars, and the First Amendment Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Rise of the Public Authority: Statebuilding and Economic Development in Twentieth-Century America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe New Black Middle Class in the Twenty-First Century Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow to Find and Eliminate Illegal Votes: An Election Handbook Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGlossary of Civil Resistance: A Resource for Study and Translation of Key Terms Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
American Government For You
The Great Awakening: Defeating the Globalists and Launching the Next Great Renaissance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5American Marxism Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Great Reset: And the War for the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An Introduction to Legal Reasoning Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe U.S. Constitution with The Declaration of Independence and The Articles of Confederation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Unwoke: How to Defeat Cultural Marxism in America Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Laboratories of Autocracy: A Wake-Up Call from Behind the Lines Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Why We're Polarized Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Laptop from Hell: Hunter Biden, Big Tech, and the Dirty Secrets the President Tried to Hide Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Disloyal: A Memoir: The True Story of the Former Personal Attorney to President Donald J. Trump Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fear: Trump in the White House Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The January 6th Report Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Profiles in Courage: Deluxe Modern Classic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Government Gangsters: The Deep State, the Truth, and the Battle for Our Democracy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Enough Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Treating People Well: The Extraordinary Power of Civility at Work and in Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 9/11 Report: The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rise of the Fourth Reich: The Secret Societies That Threaten to Take Over America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Corruptible: Who Gets Power and How It Changes Us Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lemon Tree: An Arab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Science of Coercion: Communication Research & Psychological Warfare, 1945–1960 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for The Fallacy of Campaign Finance Reform
0 ratings0 reviews