Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
2016
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190603601.003.0010
Abstract
The United States is an example of how three branches of government can stall and derail reform initiatives. The judiciary in particular is central to the US experience with political finance reform, repeatedly striking down legislation on party finance, despite consensus from executive and legislative branches. The most recent Supreme Court ruling, in April 2014, struck down one of the last remaining federal regulations, on the overall campaign contribution limits for individuals. At a subnational level, the United States does, however, see significant variations in terms of regulations on the flow of money into politics at a state level. In the last few years at least, the United States provides an example of the deregulation of political finance — a phenomenon that not only bucks the trend globally, but has contentious implications for the costs of democracy and the equality of the political playing field.
Disciplines
Comparative and Foreign Law | International Relations | Law
Recommended Citation
Richard Briffault,
The United States,
Checkbook Elections? Political Finance in Comparative Perspective, Pippa Norris & Andrea Abel van Es (Eds.), Oxford University Press
(2016).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/faculty_scholarship/4241