POWER & OPPORTUNITY: CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

For the better part of the 20th Century and into the 21st Century, the campaign finance reform movement has worked to build a "rules-based" system of campaign funding that would fight corruption and reduce the influence of concentrated money in politics. With contribution limits, spending restrictions, and disclosure requirements, these reforms embodied in the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, the post-Watergate reforms of 1974, and the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 have sought to temper the worst excesses" of big money in the political system. Nevertheless, the financing of American politics has largely remained the province of the economic elite and organized business interests, with little role for everyday Americans. Furthermore, the Roberts Court in recent years has written a new chapter or perhaps unwritten an old chapter of the reform effort, fundamentally narrowing the so-called "corruption rationale" and thereby the State's ability to apply campaign finance restrictions. In the face of this reality, this Policy Essay argues that advocates of reform must revisit the rule-based campaign finance system and embrace a new emphasis on "power-based" reforms both as a matter of law and strategy.