Dramatic changes have occurred in American politics and campaign finance during the past decade. Many attribute these changes to the Federal Election Campaign Act, but modern campaign and fundraising technology have played a larger role. Together, they may have strengthened national political parties, but they have even more dramatically strengthened political action committees. Politics has also become more professionalized, bureaucratized, centralized, and nationalized. The financial constituency of politics has become more influential; the voting constituency has become increasingly removed from all aspects of politics—except casting ballots—that influence the outcomes of elections and shape national policy. These developments challenge deeply rooted beliefs about the preeminent role of voters in controlling democratic elections and government.
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References
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1. Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, Pub. L. No. 92-225, 86 Stat. 3 (1972); Revenue Act of 1971, Pub. L. No. 92-178, 85 Stat. 497, as amended, 87 Stat. 138 (1973); Federal Election Campaign Act Amendments of 1974, Pub. L. No. 93-443, 88 Stat. 1263; Federal Election Campaign Act Amendments of 1976, Pub. L. No. 94-283, 90 Stat. 475; and Federal Election Campaign Act Amendments of 1979, Pub. L. No. 96-187, 93 Stat. 1339.
2.
Austin Ranney , “Political Parties: Reform and Decline,” in The New American Political System, ed. Anthony King (Washington, DC: American Enterprise Institute, 1979), pp. 213-248.
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3. Xandra Kayden, “Effects of the Present System of Campaign Financing on Special Interest Groups” (Paper delivered at the Conference on Presidential Primaries, Gerald R. Ford Library, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 24-26 Apr. 1985), p. 2.
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8. A majority of the delegates to the national conventions of both major political parties were already being elected in primaries in 1972, before the public financing provisions of the FECA took effect in 1976. See Ranney, “Political Parties: Reform and Decline,” p. 218.
9.
9. Reports of receipts and expenditures by political parties, candidates, and political action committees throughout this article are derived from standard reports by the Federal Election Commission unless otherwise noted.
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10. Republican National Committee, 1984 Chairman's Report: Leadership That's Working (Washington, DC: Republican National Committee, n.d.), p. 8.
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11. David Adamany, “Political Parties in the 1980s,” in Money and Politics in the United States, ed. Michael Malbin (Chatham, NJ: Chatham House, 1984), pp. 70, 77-78.
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13. Adamany, “Political Parties in the 1980s,” pp. 76-78.
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14. Gary C. Jacobson, “Money in the 1980 and 1982 Congressional Elections,” in Money and Politics in the United States, ed. Malbin, pp. 38, 39.
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15. Adamany, “Political Parties in the 1980s,” pp. 78-85, 97-101.
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16. Republican National Committee, 1984 Chairman's Report, pp. 6, 12, 16, 18, 20.
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17. Adamany, “Political Parties in the 1980s,” pp. 85-93, 96-101.
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Thomas B. Edsall , “Flush with Cash, GOP Looks to High-Tech Races in 1986,”Washington Post, 8 May 1985.
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19. Cornelius P. Cotteret al., Party Organizations in American Politics (New York: Praeger, 1984), chaps. 2, 3.
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20. Ibid., p. 45.
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21. James L. Gibsonet al., “Party Dynamics in the 1980s: Changes in County Party Organizational Strength 1980-1984” (Paper delivered at the Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, IL, 17-20 Apr. 1985).
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22. Edwin M. Epstein, “Business and Labor under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971,” in Parties, Interest Groups, and Campaign Finance Laws, ed. Michael Malbin (Washington, DC: American Enterprise Institute, 1979), pp. 107, 146-147.
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23. Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1, 54-59 (1976); Federal Election Commission v. National Conservative Political Action Committee, 53 U.S.L.W. 4293 (1985).
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24. Larry Sabato, PAC Power (New York: W. W. Norton, 1984), p. 54.
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25. Ibid., p. 59.
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26. Frank J. Sorauf, “Political Action Committees in American Politics: An Overview,” in What Price PACs? (New York: Twentieth Century Fund, 1983), pp. 28, 70.
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27. Ibid., p. 70.
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32. U.S., Congress, House, Democratic Study Group, “Troubling Trends in Election Financing... Grassroots Money Shrinks as PAC Money Grows” (Washington, DC: Democratic Study Group, 1985), p. 3.
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33. Ibid., p. 31.
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Sabato , PAC Power, p. 164.
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“PACs Contribute Nearly $17 Million to Members of House and Senate Tax Writing Committees” (News release, Common Cause, 14 Feb. 1985), p. 1.
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62. Sabato, PAC Power, p. 126.
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63. Ibid., p. 140.
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64. Ibid., pp. 126-28.
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65. David Adamany, “PACs and the Democratic Financing of Politics,”Arizona Law Review, 22:569, 594-596 (1980).
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idem , “Money in the 1980 and 1982 Congressional Elections,” pp. 61-65.
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Richard B. Cheney, “The Law's Impact on Presidential and Congressional Election Campaigns,” in ibid., pp. 239-240, 247.
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68. David Ifshin and Roger Warin, “Litigating the 1980 Presidential Election,,”American University Law Review, 31:487-489, 535-536 (1982).
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Adamany , “Political Parties in the 1980s,” pp. 78-100.
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70. Democratic Party v. Wisconsin, 450 U.S. 107 (1981); Cousins v. Wigoda, 419 U.S. 477 (1975).
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71. Federal Election Commission v. Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, 454 U.S. 27 (1981).
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72. Cotteret al., Party Organizations, pp. 16, 110.
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73. Adamany, “Political Parties in the 1980s,” pp. 80-81, 100.
74.
Adamany , “PACs and the Democratic Financing of Politics,” p. 596.
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Drew , Politics and Money, pp. 28-32.
76.
76. These figures are based on a recalculation of information provided in Theodore Eismeier and Philip Pollock III, “The Geopolitics of PACs” (Paper delivered at the Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, IL, 17-20 Apr. 1985). Eismeier and Pollock, however, interpret their data as a sign of the decentralization and localism of PACs, which is at odds with the perspective presented here.
77.
idem , Financing the 1980 Election, p. 109.
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78. David Adamany and George Agree, Political Money (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1975), pp. 103-115.
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79. Frank Sorauf, “Accountability in Political Action Committees,”Political Science Quarterly, 99:591, 595 (Winter 1984-85).
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80. Sorauf, “Political Action Committees in American Politics,” pp. 95-97.
81.
81. Jones and Miller, “Financing Campaigns,” p. 206.
