Victoria A. Farrar-Myers - Limits and Loopholes: The Quest for Money, Free Speech, and Fair Elections

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LIMITS AND LOOPHOLES

LIMITS AND LOOPHOLES

The Quest for Money,
Free Speech, and
Fair Elections

Victoria A. Farrar-Myers

University of Texas at Arlington

Diana Dwyre

California State University, Chico

CQ Press
1255 22nd Street, NW, Suite 400
Washington, DC 20037

Phone: 202-729-1900; toll-free, 1-866-4CQ-PRESS (1-866-427-7737)

Web: www.cqpress.com

Copyright 2008 by CQ Press, a division of Congressional Quarterly Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Cover design: Designfarm
Composition: Auburn Associates, Inc.

The paper used in this publication exceeds the requirements of the American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.

Printed and bound in the United States of America

11 10 09 08 07 1 2 3 4 5

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data to come
Farrar-Myers, Victoria A.
Limits and loopholes: the quest for money, free speech, and fair elections/Victoria A. Farrar-Myers, Diana Dwyre.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-87289-329-0 (alk. paper)
1. Campaign fundsUnited States. 2. ElectionsUnited States. 3. United StatesPolitics and government1989- I. Dwyre, Diana. II. Title.

JK1991.D993 2007
324.780973dc22

2007038669

This book is dedicated to
Jason
and
Joe, Quinn, and Pauline

CONTENTS

FIGURES AND BOXES

Figures

Boxes

PREFACE

Approximately ten years ago, we were about to begin our appointments as American Political Science Association Congressional Fellows. Our time on Capitol Hill from late 1997 through the summer of 1998 immersed us in the world of campaign finance. From late-night sessions on the floor of the House of Representatives to being part of meetings in which key strategic decisions were made, we lived firsthand the debate over if and how to reform our nations campaign finance laws.

In the subsequent years of reflection from our time as Congressional Fellows, we have come to appreciate that amidst the cacophony of voices in campaign finance, people often lose sight of the common thread that binds these voices to one another. Where others see intractable positions, we see connections. Where others see ideology and politics, we see core beliefs and values. Where others experience frustration and defeat in the perpetual state of reform, we see the beauty of the original constitutional design.

Campaign finance is more than a tale of how a bill becomes a law or how the legislative process functions. It is a window into how core values that are at the bedrock of our political system both motivate and constrain all actors in the American representative democracy. Campaign finance, therefore, is more than just a reform issue; it is the very embodiment of the ongoing founding debate over equality and freedom of speech and the manner in which our system of government and political actors work through the policy process and various institutional structures to achieve a delicate balance. The aim, therefore, of this book is to explore the richness of the melody that underlies campaign finance and to reveal the song and not just the noise.

This book is the product of many perspectives. Most fundamentally, our time on Capitol Hill serving as legislative assistants to Reps. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., and Sander Levin, D-Mich., provided us with an appreciation for the inner workings of Congress and for the relevant interest groups and participants in the campaign finance debate. Our countless hours working with Hill staff and key participants allowed us to see the detailed, complicated, and often seemingly irreconcilable positions that can develop around a single issue. We gained an appreciation for context, leadership, and how individuals can make significant contributions at critical junctures as an issue evolves. Living this experience motivated us to write our first book, Legislative Labyrinth: Congress and Campaign Finance Reform (CQ Press, 2001). We wanted not only to tell the story of campaign finance, but also to share the lessons it can teach about the legislative and policymaking processes.

In the years that have followed, we have often been asked to revise Legislative Labyrinth with a second edition, but we resisted because the insider perspective that informed the first book could not be replicated. The more the issue of campaign finance evolved, the more clear it became to us that the issue provided the basis for more than just telling a story of the legislative process. Campaign finance is a policy area that serves as a case for understanding a deeper narrative that drives American politicsthat of competing, and sometimes conflicting, core values. It was recognizing this that motivated us to write this new and different book.

In the context of this theoretical framework, we examine not only the intense and complex legislative process that led to congressional passage and presidential approval of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) of 2002, but also the journey that this most recent round of campaign finance reform has traveled through the entire policy process. This book also analyzes BCRAs path through the judicial branch, with more than one appearance before the Supreme Court, in which the law continues to be interpreted according to each new challenge to the constitutionality of its various provisions. We then explore how laws are implemented by the executive branch with the often controversial actions, and inactions, of the Federal Election Commission in its efforts to execute and enforce the new law. Not surprisingly, both judicial interpretation and agency implementation of BCRA featured the same partisan and ideological battles that played out in Congress during the laws passage as the debate over fair elections versus freedom of speech continued.

Then, we explore how various affected actors reacted to the new law. We ask how candidates, parties, interest groups, corporations, unions, and wealthy individuals responded to the new regulatory regime during the 2004 and 2006 elections, the first two elections after BCRAs enactment. Finally, we note the cyclical nature of the policy process with a look at the various proposals being advanced in Congress to address the issues that BCRA did not cover as well as in response to the (sometimes unintended) consequences of the new law. Given this broad treatment of the entire policy process and the current interest in campaign finance as a fundamental policy issue, we expect that students and scholars of American government in general, of Congress and the legislative process, and of public policy and policy making will find Limits and Loopholes of interest.

Acknowledgments

As with all work, our theory, thoughts, and ideas have benefited from contributions and insights developed over the years. Our own scholarship in various books, articles, and chapters has honed our thoughts and arguments and served as the foundation for the analysis presented herein. We are grateful to those discussants, editors, reviewers, and colleaguesand even criticsof

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