Activities Campaign Reform 1. Do some research about US Supreme Court decisions dealing with campaign financing. Go to the Oyez Oyez Oyez web site or to the FindLaw web site for your research. Read the abstracts or summaries for relevant cases. Below are the citations for some major cases about campaign financing. (Or take a look at our list of Campaign Finance Reform Supreme Court Cases.) Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1 (1976) First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti, 435 U.S. 765 (1978) California Medical Association v. Federal Election Commission, 453 U.S. 182 (1981) Citizens Against Rent Control/Coalition for Fair Housing v. City of Berkeley, 454 U.S. 290 (1981) Brown v. Socialist Workers ’74 Campaign Committee, 459 U.S. 87 (1982) Federal Election Commission v. National Conservative Political Action Committee, 470 U.S. 480 (1985) Federal Election Commission v. Massachusetts Citizens for Life, Inc., 479 U.S. 238 (1986) Austin v. Michigan State Chamber of Commerce, 494 U.S. 652 (1990) Read the summaries or abstracts about the cases. Or take a look at Campaign Finance Reform Supreme Court Cases. What do the decisions in these cases say about the relationship between the First Amendment, political speech, and campaign financing? Do you agree or disagree with the decisions? Why or why not? 2. Go to the Destination Democracy web site (sponsored by the Benton Foundation). Take either the “Expressway Road Test” or the “Byways Road Test” to find if you think money is “democracy’s fuel” or “democracy’s roadblock.” Based on the site’s analysis of your answers, what you think about the current campaign finance system? Do you think that we should “slow the money down”, “let the money flow” implement reforms “other than the money”? 3. For some background, read “How Americans Have Financed Elections in the Past,” from A Brief History of Money in Politics: Campaign Finance-and Campaign Finance Reform-in the United States from the Center for Responsive Politics. Answer the following questions: According to the article, why were campaign costs relatively low during the first 50 years after independence? What three election reforms in the early 20th century increased campaign costs? What “electronic campaigning” media were introduced after World War II that also increased campaign costs? Given all the factors that changed the nature of elections since the nation was formed, do you believe we are justified in spending the amount of money we currently spend on election campaigns? Why or why not? To what extent is your opinion about whether we spend too much money on campaigns influenced by the claim in the article that the sources of campaign money have historically remained the same? 4. Go to “Coming to Terms: A Money-in-Politics Glossary” on the Center for Responsive Politics web site. Look up the terms “Issue Advocacy” and “Express Advocacy”. Then take a look at “A Bag of Tricks: 2-Issue Advocacy” about issue ads in the 1996 election campaigns by Lisa Rosenberg. Rosenberg states that “issue ads” press the legal limits of campaign finance law. Do you believe that they push certain ethical limits? Why or why not? 5. Check the 1996 “Campaign Finance Profile” of your U.S. Senator or congressional member using the database from the Center for Responsive Politics web site. (You can look them up by state, name, or your zip code). What percentage of their campaign financing came from individuals? PACs? Ideological or single issue advocates? What surprised you, if anything, about what you found? >>Brush Up on Your Voting Smarts >>Voting & Youth Citizenship >>Voter Registration >>Campaign Reform Conversation | Voting | *Activities* | Resources Online Conversations | Law, Diversity, and the Vote