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Political Spending: Civic Engagement is Not a Threat to Democracy
January 1, 2018  •  By IFS Staff  •    •  

The First Amendment guarantees every American freedom of speech. That freedom includes the right to spend money on speech. Without money, a political group cannot buy ads, print fliers, organize protests, or hire staff. Short of shouting one’s opinions on a street corner, it takes money to spread a message. Recognizing this relationship, the Supreme Court has long prohibited the…

Larry Lessig and the Barriers to Political Campaigning
February 1, 2016   •  By Scott Blackburn   •  , ,

“We’ve now created the green primary, where only the funders get to vote and they vote on who will have the money necessary to ...

Heroes and Villains in the Gun Control Debate
December 8, 2015   •  By Scott Blackburn   •  , ,

Imagine for a moment that billionaire Michael Bloomberg was a strong supporter of the Second Amendment and gun rights. Imagine that, inspired by this ...

Harvard Professor Gives PowerPoint Presentation
November 16, 2015   •  By Luke Wachob   •  ,

Lawrence Lessig doesn’t want to talk about campaign finance reform anymore, probably because those conversations haven’t been going very well for him lately. Instead, ...

Did Lessig Fudge the Numbers?
October 30, 2015   •  By Brad Smith   •  ,

“Veritas” was the Roman goddess of truth and the mother of Virtue. The Harvard University motto today is “Veritas,” – truth – but as in many ...

Comments to California Fair Political Practices Commission on Proposed Changes to 2 Cal. Code Regs. § 18225.7 (“Made at the Behest; Independent Versus Coordinated Expenditures”)
October 14, 2015   •  By Eric Wang   •  , , ,

Although the Commission’s proposal has many pitfalls and paradoxes, CCP notes some of the ones that stand out the most: The proposed changes would make ...

Comments to Texas Ethics Commission Regarding August 7, 2015 Revisions to Proposed Tex. Admin. Code § 20.1(20)
October 2, 2015   •  By David Keating   •  , , ,

The Center for Competitive Politics (“CCP”) submits these comments in response to the revisions the Texas Ethics Commission (the “Commission”) made at its August ...

Testing Inferences about American Politics: A Review of the “Oligarchy” Result
October 1, 2015   •  By Matt Nese   •  ,

In a well-publicized study, Gilens and Page argue that economic elites and business interest groups exert strong influence on US government policy while average citizens ...

Is Corporate Political Activity Controversial? New Polling Emphatically Says No.
September 16, 2015   •  By Luke Wachob   •  , ,

If the government is considering a law that would damage your business, how would you respond? According to a new poll from the Public Affairs ...

Is the media waking up to the myths of “money in politics”?
September 9, 2015   •  By Brian Walsh   •  ,

It has become a hallmark of election season chatter to read stories about money “flooding into politics” in various media outlets. Usually, these discussions ...

Comments to Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission Regarding Revised Draft Rules; Ariz. Admin. Code R2-20-109(F)
August 18, 2015   •  By Eric Wang   •  , , ,

Those rules, if adopted, would make a number of unlawful changes to Ariz. Admin. Code R2-20-109(F). The latest version of the proposal appears either ...

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