Institute For Free Speech

Contribution Limits: Caps on First Amendment Activity
January 1, 2018  •  By IFS Staff  •    •  

Contribution limits are monetary restrictions on the amount an individual or group can donate to a political actor – usually a candidate, political party, or political action committee. The Supreme Court first allowed limits on contributions in Buckley v. Valeo. The Court’s ruling acknowledged that contribution limits were a restriction on First Amendment activity, but allowed them on the theory…

Public Perception and the “Appearance of Corruption” in Campaign Finance
December 21, 2011   •  By Jason Farrell   •  , ,

The Center for Competitive Politics, in cooperation with University of Missouri Professor Jeff Milyo, included several questions in the 2010 Cooperative Congressional Election Study (CCES), a ...

CCP Presents Testimony at the Request of Colorado Secretary of State
December 16, 2011   •  By Sarah Lee   •  , , ,

Testifying before a rulemaking hearing for the Colorado Secretary of State yesterday, Center for Competitive Politics Legal Director Allen Dickerson stated that Secretary of State ...

Campaign Spending, Diminishing Marginal Returns, and Campaign Finance Restrictions in Judicial Elections

 Default Article
October 1, 2011   •  By IFS Staff   •  , , ,

Abstract: For years, scholars of elections have argued about whether campaign finance limitations adversely affect electoral competition. In this article, we examine how the ...

CCP Testifies Before Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Policy Committee
September 26, 2011   •  By Joe Trotter   •  , , , , ,

Last Friday, CCP Legal Director Allen Dickerson testified before the Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Policy Committee in an effort to educate Pennsylvania legislators on the ...

Keep Out: How State Campaign Finance Laws Erect Barriers to Entry for Political Entrepreneurs
September 1, 2010   •  By IFS staff   •  ,

Whether it is the civil rights movement of the 1960s or today’s Tea Party movement, outsiders in American politics have always played a crucial role in ...

Testimony of CCP Research & Government Relations Director Laura Renz to the Pennsylvania Senate State Government Committee
August 18, 2010   •  By IFS staff   •  , , ,

The legislation being discussed today represents an understandable but misguided approach to campaign finance law. In fact, Pennsylvania’s current status as one of only eleven ...

New Federal Initiatives Project: Fair Elections Now Act
April 1, 2010   •  By IFS staff   •  ,

Congress is considering a novel way to regulate campaigns. The bill at issue, the Fair Elections Now Act. (FENA), combines federal campaign funds with subsidized ...

Testimony of CCP Research Director Laura Renz to the Illinois Joint Committee on Government Reform
March 16, 2009   •  By Laura Renz   •  , , ,

Thank you for inviting me to testify on campaign finance reform. My name is Laura Renz, and I am the Research Director at the Center ...

Testimony of CCP Chairman Bradley A. Smith to Illinois Reform Commission
February 24, 2009   •  By Brad Smith   •  , , ,

Reporting on the first public forum held by this Commission just last week, the Daily Herald led with the question, “Could public financing of political ...

Issue Analysis 5: Do Lower Contribution Limits Decrease Public Corruption?
January 1, 2009   •  By Laura Renz   •  ,

Supporters of campaign finance regulation regularly assert that contributions to political candidates need to be limited in order to reduce corruption by elected officials, and the lower the ...

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