Money, Politics, and the First Amendment by Bollinger, Lee C.; Stone, Geoffrey R.;

Fifty Years of Supreme Court Decisions and Campaign Finance Reforms

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Product details:

Publisher OUP USA
Date of Publication 20 March 2026

ISBN 9780197821916
Binding Paperback
No. of pages440 pages
Size 235x156 mm
Language English

Short description:

2026 will be the fiftieth anniversary of the landmark Buckley v. Valeo Supreme Court decision that
fundamentally reshaped the role of money in politics in the US. In that decision, the Court ruled that
restrictions on candidate campaign spending were violations of the First Amendment. In Money, Politics, and the First Amendment, Lee Bollinger and Geoffrey Stone have gathered a cast of eminent professors, judges, and politicians, including Senators Amy Klobuchar and Sheldon Whitehouse, to analyze the initial decision and its long aftermath in the fullest scope possible.

Long description:

Money in political campaigns is a subject of endless current interest and enormous consequence for American democracy. Beginning in 1976, in Buckley v. Valeo, the Supreme Court established a framework for public campaign regulation that declared that money constitutes "speech" and that the only constitutional basis upon which the government can regulate money was to prohibit corruption or the appearance of corruption. The Court then defined corruption narrowly and held that direct "contributions" to candidates could be limited on that basis but that "expenditures," by political candidates and others, could not. Over time as the role of money became more and more serious in politics the Court in a number of decisions seemed to be turning more willing to accept regulation. But in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the new conservative Supreme Court sharply turned against permitting regulation, including of corporations.

Today that regime of nearly full protection for anyone spending virtually any amount of money for or against candidates and issues remains securely in place. The question, after a half century of this system, is whether this interpretation of the First Amendment is sound or not. If yes, then what are the justifications and what will be the consequences? If not, then what are alternative interpretations and what would the world be like under each one? The contributors, all scholars and experts in this area, give their interpretations and proposals.

Opening Dialogue
Part I. Introduction to the Supreme Court: Decisions on Campaign Finance Regulation
Buckley v. Valeo's Dubious yet Durable Contribution-Expenditure Distinction
How Buckley v. Valeo Led Us Astray
Part II. Critiques and a Defense of the Major Decisions
Getting It Wrong: The Supreme Court and Campaign Finance
Citizens United: Cracks in the Façade
A Defense of Buckley v. Valeoand Citizens United v. FEC
Part III. Campaign Finance and Race
Race and Campaign Finance Deregulation
Part IV. Recommendations for Legislation on Campaign Finance Reform
Money Talks, Dark Money Whispers: How Anonymous, Unlimited Political Spending Is Corrupting American Democracy
Elections in the Age of A.I.
Part V. Arguments Interpreting The "Corruption" Rationale
Corruption, Campaign Finance, and Criminal Law: Buckley's Legacy
Campaign Finance and "Real" Corruption
Buckley at 50: By What Right?
Part VI. The Effect of Campaign Finance: On Political Institutions
Buckley v. Valeo: Doctrinal Difficulties and Institutional Failure
Campaign Finance and Political Polarization
Party Campaign Finance: From FECA To Modern Hyperpartisanship
Plutocratic Democracy, Elon Musk, and the Limits of Campaign Finance Reform
Part VII. The Relationship Between Campaign Finance and the State of American Democracy
A Political Question?: Partisan Gerrymandering, Campaign Finance Regulation, and the Supreme Court
Without Buckley, Would American Democracy Really Be All That Different?
Campaign Finance and Contemporary Political Dysfunction
Part VIII. A Comparative Approach to Campaign Finance
Leveling The Playing Field: Insights from Comparative Constitutional Law
Closing Statement
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