5.2- funding of political parties

Question 1

what are PAC’s?

Answer 1

politcal action committees
- an organisation that pools campaign contributons and gives funds to candidates
- can only receive money from individuals
- they give money directly to candidates: ‘ hard money’

Question 2

what is the maximum a PAC can give a candidate? how does this compare to how much an individual can give directly to a candidate?

Answer 2

a PAC can give a candidate $5000
an individual can give a canidate $3300

Question 3

what is the purpose of a superpac?

Answer 3

• allow coorperations and unions to donate
• super PAC’s decide how to spend the money (soft money)
• there is no cap on donations

Question 4

what are the pros of super PAC’s?

Answer 4

• unions are a voice of the people
• in a democracy individuals and groups should be able to allocate donations as they please
• regulators disclose donours allowing for transparency

Question 5

what are the cons to super PAC’s?

Answer 5

• concentrates power in the wealthy elite
• companies use shell companies to donate money (dark money), therefore undermining transpareny

Question 6

what was significant about the Mccain- Feingold act?

Answer 6

2002
- banned soft money donations to national parties
- said that adverts and campaigns could not be directlt funded by unions or firms
- set limits on the ammount of ‘hard money that could be recieved’ - initially no more than $1000 to a candidate

Question 7

what was the case that essentially creates superpacs?

Answer 7

(2010) Citizens united vs FEC ruled that the state could not regulate individual expenditure on campaigns under the freedom of speech - ullimited spending

lack of regulation of funding is based onconstitutional interpretation

Question 8

what is a key example of a large donation from an indivdiual donour?

Answer 8

in 2020 sheldon adelson gace $75m to super PAC “Preserve America”

Question 9

How was obama significant in campaign finance?

Answer 9

• obama rejected matching funds which allowed him to raise significantly more money

Question 10

in 2020 what percent of bidens funds came from large contributors?

Answer 10

61%

Question 11

explain the case McCutcheon vs FEC 2014.

Answer 11

struck down aggregate limits on donations

Question 12

what was the federal election campaign reform act? what did it result in?

Answer 12

1971
- set limits on campaign spending
- disclosure requirements
- created the federal election commission

Question 13

how did Buckley vs valeo affect the federal election campaign reform act?

Answer 13

• struck down limits on cadidate expenditure
• struck down limits on independent expenditure

Question 14

What was the case that essentially created super PACS

Answer 14

Citizens United vs FEC: The Supreme Court ruled that Congress could not limit private expenditure (from firms and unions) on campaigns

Question 15

how much more did hilary clinton spend in the election compared to trump?

Answer 15

hilary clinton spent twice the ammount as trump

Question 16

how much in total was spent on the 2020 election campaign?

Answer 16

$14 billion

Question 17

in the 2016 election, how much of trumps own money did he spend?

Answer 17

$66 million

Question 18

how can firms get around the bipartisan campaign reform act?

Answer 18

• groups that conduct issue advocacy rather than electioneering are exempt from regulations- loopholes

Question 19

give an example of a PAC donating significantly to a candidate.

Answer 19

in the 2020 election, america first action spent $200m supporting donald trump

Question 20

in 2020, how much did trump raise in small donations?

Answer 20

$378 million

almost 50% of his funding raised

Question 21

what are the arguments for funding reform?

Answer 21

• reduce the influence of large coorperations and individuals
• increased transparency
• make winning elections less dependent on funding- level the playing field

Question 22

what are the arguments against campaign funding reform?

Answer 22

• infringe upon freedom of speech
• may lead to less transparent or unregulated funding
• impact of campaign finance is over stated

Question 23

give an example of a candidate trying to ‘buy’ an election.

Answer 23

in the 2020 general election michael bloomberg spent over $1 billion