POLSCI 190 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Campaign Finance, Political Action Committee

• School: U of M
• Department: Political Science
• Course: POLSCI 190
• Professor: Richard Hall

Document Summary

Campaign finance laws are strictly regulated but also wide open. In 1970s congress passes a series of laws that regulated money in politics for the first time. 2 ways to limit money in politics. Limit how much a candidate/entity can spend. How you spend your money is free speech. Can"t limit how much a candidate or party spends. Regulated entity specifically associated with an interest group. ,000 limit on individual contributions to pacs. Super pacs came about as other entities became more regulated. Bcra and citizens united super pacs. Unconstitutional to limit any type of speech that any corporate entity expresses. Entities donate money to a candidate and expect something in return in the future. Many people are questioning whether or not the investment theory of campaign contributions makes sense. Relative to benefits they get from the federal government, industries donate very little to campaigns. There has never been a single study that has established that money buys votes.