Better Parties, Better Government : A

Every federal campaign finance reform law enacted since 1971_ostensibly intended to keep politicians honest and limit the influence of contributors_has in reality protected incumbents by reducing the funds available to challengers. Although the courts have struck down many of the most egregious incumbent-protection measures enacted by Congress, important ones still remain_particularly restrictions on what political parties can spend in support of their candidates. These restrictions explain why reelection rates for incumbents are so high_up to 98 percent in recent years_despite record-low approval ratings for Congress. The most effective way to change this pro-incumbent system is to lift the restrictions on political parties, allowing them to become both the principal vehicles for political fundraising and the principal sources of campaign funds for their candidates. This would improve funding resources for challengers, strengthen the parties, reduce the appearance of corruption inherent in the current candidate-centered fundraising system, and ultimately strengthen American democracy. In Better Parties, Better Government: A Realistic Program for Campaign Finance Reform, Peter J. Wallison and Joel M. Gora guide us through the complex tangle of laws, rules, regulations, exceptions, exemptions, and safe harbors that constitute our current campaign finance regime, and explain how to reform the system with a single change: ending the restrictions on spending by political parties in support of their candidates. This single reform will make elections more competitive, improve the candidate and policy choices available to voters, and thereby transform American politics.

Peter J. Wallison is the Arthur F. Burns Fellow in Financial Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C. A former general counsel of the U.S. Treasury Department, he was also counsel to Vice President Nelson A. Rockefeller and White House counsel to President Ronald Reagan. Joel M. Gora is a professor at Brooklyn Law School and former legal counsel to the American Civil Liberties Union. As an ACLU lawyer, he was one of the attorneys who represented the plaintiffs in the Buckley v. Valeo case, arguing that the requirements of the Federal Election Campaign Act violated the rights protected by the First Amendment and heavily favored incumbents.

List of Illustrations	p. ix
Introduction and Summary	p. 1
Deficiencies of the Candidate-Centered Campaign Finance System	p. 6
Enhancing the advantages of incumbents	p. 6
Creating the appearance of corruption or buying influence	p. 9
Favoring wealthy candidates	p. 10
Discouraging high-quality people	p. 12
Distracting elected officials from performing their functions	p. 13
Promoting inefficient or wasteful use of campaign contributions	p. 14
Empowering consultants, raising campaign costs, and reducing the policy significance of campaigns	p. 15
Reducing useful information for voters	p. 16
Enhancing the power of the "special interests"	p. 17
Implementation of a Better System	p. 18
How The Current Campaign Finance System Works For Incumbents And Against Parties	p. 23
The Campaign Finance System and Incumbent Protection	p. 24
A Century of "Reform"	p. 26
Congressional Action	p. 30
Incumbent Advantages in the Current Campaign Finance Regime	p. 39
Expenditure limits	p. 39
Contribution limits	p. 43
Coordinated expenditures	p. 45
Soft money and the BCRA	p. 47
Disclosure requirements	p. 49
Corporations, unions, and PACs vs. political parties	p. 50
527s, 501(c)s, and beyond	p. 52
Public Financing of Political Campaigns	p. 54
A Better Way?	p. 56
Other Reforms: Would They Make Things Better Or Worse?	p. 58
More of the Same-The Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Model	p. 60
The Government Financing Model	p. 62
Government Financing in Theory	p. 64
Government Financing in Practice	p. 69
Flawed laws	p. 70
Presidential public financing	p. 70
State and local programs	p. 73
Federal Proposals for Public Funding	p. 75
From the Framers-A Minimalist Approach	p. 79
Other Proposals for Campaign Finance Reform	p. 80
Free television time	p. 80
Communication vouchers	p. 82
Patriot dollars	p. 83
Only patriot dollars	p. 83
The donation booth	p. 84
Instantaneous Internet disclosure	p. 85
Conclusion	p. 86
The Benefits Of Lifting Campaign Finance Restrictions On Parties	p. 87
A More Competitive Electoral System	p. 88
The Unique Role and Capabilities of Political Parties	p. 91
Parties as Principal Funding Sources	p. 94
Parties are efficient fundraisers	p. 94
Candidates will prefer party funding	p. 95
The appearance-of-corruption issue will remain for candidates raising their own funds	p. 95
Candidates supported by parties will be more successful	p. 96
Candidates supported by parties will be able to spend more time campaigning	p. 96
The Benefits of Parties as Funding Sources	p. 97
Reduced appearance of corruption	p. 97
Reduced advantages for the wealthy	p. 100
Better candidates	p. 102
More time for lawmakers to do their jobs	p. 103
More efficient use of campaign funds	p. 105
Cheaper campaigns focused on parties' goals	p. 107
More information for voters	p. 108
Less power for special interests	p. 109
Less gerrymandering	p. 110
The Governance Benefits Of Party-Centered Campaign Finance	p. 112
The American Attitude toward Political Parties	p. 113
The Cycles of Party Power: A Brief History of Parties in the United States	p. 116
Current Attitudes toward Parties	p. 120
Political Parties and American Democracy	p. 121
The Benefits of a Greater Policy Role for Parties	p. 123
Continuity in policy	p. 124
Choice in public policy	p. 125
Fostering of accountability	p. 128
Aggregation of special interests	p. 130
Support for governmental initiatives	p. 131
Conclusion	p. 132
Conclusion: Now, It's Up To Congress	p. 134
Notes	p. 143
Index	p. 165
About The Authors	p. 171
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Better Parties, Better Government : A Realistic Program for Campaign Finance Reform

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