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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…

Presidential Nominating Convention Accounts’ Expenditure Limit: A Cap on Political Expression
September 9, 2020   •  By Heather McGuire   •  , ,

Although the 2020 presidential nominating conventions have concluded, the national parties will be forced to navigate both expected, inflated costs and unexpected costs in ...

Has Citizens United Increased Corruption? An Examination of Public Corruption Prosecutions
September 3, 2020   •  By Alec Greven   •  , , ,

Ten years after the Citizens United decision, this report asks if opponents' claims that increased speech through independent expenditures would lead to increased corruption ...

The 2020 election could see record lows for ‘dark money’ influence
September 2, 2020   •  By Brad Smith   •  , ,

Dark money could be trending toward a record low this election cycle.

Pledges Against Corporate PACs Do Little but Confuse and Harm
August 26, 2020   •  By Nathan Maxwell   •  , , ,

Candidate pledges denouncing support from select groups tend to utilize public misunderstanding of campaign finance law to generate the facade of moral superiority, trade ...

Do Campaign Finance Reforms Insulate Incumbents from Competition? New Evidence from State Legislative Elections
July 10, 2020   •  By IFS Staff   •  , ,

Abstract: Variations in state campaign finance regulations across states and over time provide an opportunity to test the effects of reforms on the electoral ...

Voters Aren’t For Sale
March 13, 2020   •  By Brad Smith   •  , ,

This piece originally appeared in City Journal on March 12, 2020.    The political world is practically giddy at the failed campaigns of Michael ...

Bloomberg Slayed the Myth That Money Buys Elections
March 5, 2020   •  By Zac Morgan   •  , ,

This piece originally appeared in National Review on March 5, 2020.    The dragons of myth were not slain by fearless knights, but by reality. ...

Tom Steyer’s failed campaign shows money can’t buy votes
March 2, 2020   •  By Luke Wachob   •  , ,

This piece originally appeared in the Washington Examiner on March 2, 2020.    There’s a lot more to winning elections than dominating the airwaves. ...

Trump and Bloomberg Super Bowl ads are a novelty, but are they worth it?
February 2, 2020   •  By Luke Wachob   •  ,

This piece originally appeared in Washington Examiner on February 2, 2020.    Millions of people will tune in to watch the NFL’s Super Bowl ...

Celebrate the Citizens United Decade
January 21, 2020   •  By Brad Smith   •  , ,

This piece originally appeared in The Wall Street Journal on January 20, 2020.   ‘Last week,” President Obama declared a decade ago, “the Supreme Court ...

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