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…

Three Myths About Campaign Contribution Limits

January 1, 2018   •  By IFS Staff   •  ,

Forty-five of the 50 states and the federal government in some way impose limits on the amount individuals or groups can contribute to the ...

Brookings Report Examines How Parties Have Weakened in Relation to Independent Groups

December 20, 2017   •  By Joe Albanese   •  , ,

Earlier this month, Jonathan Rauch – a Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution – and Raymond J. La Raja – an ...

Wave election possible because of Virginia’s campaign finance laws

November 16, 2017   •  By Scott Blackburn   •  , , ,

The recent election in Virginia was a wave. Democrats swept the races for statewide office. Republicans, previously a supermajority in the House of Delegates, ...

Danica Roem’s win proves it: We don’t need to restrict campaign contributions

November 15, 2017   •  By Luke Wachob   •  , , ,

By Luke Wachob Roem outraised Marshall 3-to-1 thanks in part to large donations from lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender advocates across the country. This was ...

Why Contribution Limits Pose a Threat to Free Speech

November 3, 2017   •  By Alex Cordell   •  ,

Aside from voting, one of the most effective ways Americans can generate change in their government is to speak out and educate more of ...

Federal Election Commission v. Jeremy Johnson and John Swallow

John Swallow
October 23, 2017   •  By IFS staff   •  , , ,

Can the FEC punish an individual for giving advice? That is the question at the core of Federal Election Commission v. Jeremy Johnson and John ...

Campaign Finance Regulations Don’t Exist to Make Politicians’ Lives Easier

August 31, 2017   •  By Joe Albanese   •  , , ,

Issue One’s series of interviews with former lawmakers continued last week with a discussion featuring Charlie Bass, a Republican Congressman from New Hampshire from ...

What’s the Value of “Outside Speech” Anyway?

August 28, 2017   •  By Alex Cordell   •  ,

Far outside the boundaries of the continental United States, Alaska’s stringent campaign finance regulations go a step further in distinguishing The Last Frontier from ...

A World Without Buckley v. Valeo

Decided over forty years ago, the landmark 1976 Supreme Court decision, Buckley v. Valeo, remains at the heart of modern debates over the intersection ...

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