Campaign finance reform policies
Campaign finance reform refers to the actions that have been adopted to regulate how campaigns can raise money and also the manner in which this money is managed and spent. It is a political effort to change the use of money in political campaigns. Campaign finances were largely unregulated, up to 1971 when the Congress passed the Federal Election Campaign in a bid to regulate campaign spending and contributions. This Act was passed to establish stringent rules and regulations for reporting campaign expenditure and contributions. It needed the contestants to show proof of how they raised their campaign money including the donors and the amount donated and also limits were placed on the highest amount of money an individual can contribute to a candidate. Amendments were made on this Act in 1974 which included the creation of a Federal Electoral commission whose mandate is to enforce limits on donations to campaigns, report on campaign spending and also organize a funding for presidential election. Over the years, there have been different finance reform policies comprising of Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 and the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA). This discussion seeks to explore on some of these reform policies and their efficiency. These campaign finance reform policies have been effective in controlling campaign spending and contributions.
Lobbying disclosure act of 1995
This was a U.S. act intended at championing for a higher accountability to federal lobbying practices in the country. President Clinton signed into law the Act and it has significantly changed the previous legal framework controlling lobbying reporting as well as registration in an attempt to foster greater public disclosure on issues such as who is lobbying on what matters, for how much and on behalf of whom. According to Straus, (2015) this Act has not only greatly improved the severity of registered lobbyists but also the quantity of information that can or must be disclosed.
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According to Act a lobbyist is a worker who makes several politicization contacts and uses most of their time lobbying. Lobbying activities entail any practice embraced in support of a lobbying contact. Lobbying activities include the costs used for all activities in support of lobbying. After one and a half month of the lobbyist making their first lobbying contact for an organization, they should be registered as lobbyists with the Senate secretary as well as with the clerk of the House of Representatives. According to Straus, (2015) organizations that hire lobbyists must file reports twice a year with the Clerk of the House and the Senate of the House. In the report, the name of the organization’s lobbyists and the different issue area should be included. According to Straus, (2015) with regards to enforcement, an organization or person who fails to correct a defective filing within two months after notice from the Clerk or Secretary of the House or fails to adhere to with the stipulations of the Act can be fined up to $50,000. All registered lobbyists, clients and firms should be made public by the clerk and secretary of the House.
The Lobbying Disclosure Act is effective because its efforts have accrued considerate gains in the control of campaign money. Its enforcement has been active especially with the introduction of the civil fine of $50,000. All lobbyists and lobbying organizations are thriving to comply with the guidelines and stipulations of the Act so as not to be imposed the fine.
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002
The main function of this Act was to get rid of the heightened use of soft-money to finance promotion by political parties on behalf of their political contestants ( Briffault, 2002) . The BCRA act was developed to address the loopholes presented by the ‘hard money’. For instance, according to Briffault, (2002) while there was a restriction of $1,000 contribution per federal contestant in an election as well as donations from unions and corporations were forbidden, the soft money could be funnelled to national party committees and federal candidates, thus evading the FECA restricts as was common in the 2000 presidential elections.
The fact that this Act was able to seal the loopholes, it can be considered an effective both practically and politically. Furthermore, according to Briffault, (2002) there are a number of provisions that have been made on this act such as uplifting the permitted, lawful ‘hard money’ donations by persons to $2,000 from $1,000 per contestant per election. BCRA restricted electioneering communications by unions and corporations in a bid to stop the union and corporate practice of airing advertisements that were aimed to influencing federal elections. While the act is effective, it put a restriction on self-finance campaigns.
Obama and Trump administrations
During Obama’s and Trump’s administration, there has been minimal progress on campaign finance reform policies. When President Obama was in power for eight years, left-leaning groups like Public Citizen, Common Cause and the Brennan Center for Justice, pressured him to look into the issue of ‘Money and Politics” ( Pildes, 2019) . While they made several please, President Obama never took a direct action. A number of requests were made to him including requesting him to issue an executive order forcing government contractors to report their contribution to non-profits and advocacy groups. In 2008, he became the first nominee to reject the use of the presidential public financing system because it had a spending limit and he knew he could exceed that. Unlike Obama, President Trump prior to his election was open to campaign finance reform, he has however, not made significant changes on the reforming campaign financing.
In conclusion, both the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 and Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 have played a significant role in controlling campaign financing. Unlike in the past, today, political candidates have limited the amount of money they spend on campaigns. It has also reduced embezzlement of public finances by politicians as in the past politicians used to engage in corrupt dealings to get more money for campaigns. However, in as much as these reform policies have played a role in streamlining campaign financing, full efficiency have not been attained and there is need to make changes to seal all the available loopholes.
References
Briffault, R. (2002). The Future of Reform: Campaign Finance After the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002. Ariz. St. LJ , 34 , 1179.
Pildes, R. H. (2019). Small-Donor Based Campaign-Finance Reform and Political Polarization.
Straus, J. R. (2015). The Lobbying Disclosure Act at 20: Analysis and Issues for Congress . Congressional Research Service.
