Zusammenfassung der Ressource
The impact of money on US elections and political process
- Attempts at campaign finance reform show that this is a key issue
- 1974 Federal Election Campaign Act
- Established the FEC and limited the level of donations
- But undermined by Supreme Court - hard and soft money
- 2002 McCain-Feingold Act
- Tried to restrict the use of soft money but had a limited impact
- Banned foreign donations and made a stand by your ad provision
- 2010 FEC v Citizens United
- Limits on what corporations could spend unconstitutional
- Could allow big business and unions an important voice in the future
- Obama
- Harnessed the power of the internet to design the first 21st century fund raising machine
- By the end of the election, 3 million people had donated over $760 million
- This meant he became the first candidate that could forgo federal funds
- This meant that campaign spending limits did not apply
- During the campaign he could pour resources into crucial swing states
- In North Carolina, Obama spent over 5 times the amount McCain did on TV ads
- This was more than the combined amount from Bush-Kerry in 2004
- Obama raised over $700m in 2012 - Romney trailed behind with $474m
- Both candidates could decline federal funds showing the limitations of legislation
- Finance in 2016
- Clinton raised $620 million - Trump just over $330 million
- The ability of Clinton to raise money before the election scared off many challengers
- All figures show that Clinton outspent Trump in 2016 but lost
- Does this show that money was not important?
- Or was it because of the unique nature of Trump?
- His campaign got a great deal of free publicity due his actions
- He also had the support of websites such as Breitbart and the Fox news channel
- Does it also show the growing power of social media and the tendency of voters to focus on what they want to hear?
- The length of campaigns
- Most candidates announce their campaign over a year before the election
- The invisible primary - all about name recognition and media profile
- Primary elections take place January-June of election year
- Candidates have to spend hundreds of millions to succeed in these
- Sanders spent $234m in his attempt to defeat Clinton
- Synoptic Links
- The role of the media in US elections
- The importance of attack ads and negative campaigning
- This turns many away from the political process
- Low turnout figures
- The rise of the Super PACs
- Soft money - over $1 billion was spent in 2016
- Priorities USA Action spent $133m - they support Clinton
- Get our jobs back spent $50m supporting Trump
- The influence of Pressure Groups on the political process
- The influence of the NRA on Congress
- Since the 2012 election, the NRA has spent $3m a year lobbying Congress