IFS Research

Campaign finance disclosure laws generally require candidates, political parties, and citizen groups that primarily work to elect or defeat candidates, to register with the government ...

Beginning in March of 2010, the Internal Revenue Service began scrutinizing groups applying for 501(c)(4) tax-exempt status using politically biased criteria.1 Those groups with names ...

There is a false perception that most states limit all forms of campaign contributions. While many states impose some limits on political giving, the reality ...

Generally, false statement laws prohibit “false” speech about candidates or public officials (including their official voting records). Analogous libel and slander statutes – which also ...

Taxpayer-financed campaign programs seek to replace private, voluntary contributions from citizens to the candidates of their choice with government grants of taxpayer dollars to candidates ...

On April 2, 2014, the Supreme Court issued its decision in McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission. 1 In that case, plaintiff Shaun McCutcheon challenged the overall limits imposed ...

First Amendment political speech freedoms dramatically increased last year as nine state legislatures continued to liberalize campaign finance laws in the wake of the 2010 ...

Advocates of taxpayer-funded political campaigns frequently argue that these systems improve government by increasing political participation and voter turnout. Common Cause, an organization that supports taxpayer-funded campaigns, claims that ...

This handbook is intended to introduce state lawmakers to general campaign finance and election administration issues. State elected officials are tasked with ensuring that citizens ...

Disclosure laws vary between the federal government and the states, and from state to state, but the general framework is quite uniform. Most campaign finance ...