{"id":442802,"date":"2020-07-06T10:01:26","date_gmt":"2020-07-06T14:01:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=442802"},"modified":"2021-11-01T14:27:17","modified_gmt":"2021-11-01T18:27:17","slug":"does-money-in-politics-threaten-us-democracy-442802","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/does-money-in-politics-threaten-us-democracy-442802\/","title":{"rendered":"Corporate money in politics threatens US democracy\u2014or does it?"},"content":{"rendered":"
In a new book, social scientists argue that the influence of campaign financing is misunderstood by voters as well as by policymakers, the media, and political analysts.<\/div>\n

When in 2010 the US Supreme Court ruled in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission<\/em> that companies and labor unions enjoy the same right to political speech as individuals, many restrictions on money in American politics went out the window.<\/p>\n

Subsequently, so-called super PACs\u2014political action committees that are financed in part by large corporations, their multibillionaire shareholders, or powerful unions\u2014can pour hundreds of millions of dollars into political campaigns, as long as their efforts are independent of candidates.<\/p>\n

While most political observers would agree that super PACs are a dominant force in US politics, many would also argue they\u2019re a nefarious influence. The influx of large sums of money into politics damages trust in government, suppresses voter turnout, puts corporate interests first, and results in corruption\u2014so goes the common narrative. That\u2019s why campaign finance reformers, politicians, and academics alike have been arguing for decades that US democracy is imperiled by a threat that permeates all of politics\u2014money.<\/p>\n

But is that narrative accurate? A Rochester\/Missouri team of social scientists says it\u2019s not.<\/p>\n

Upending the conventional campaign finance narrative<\/strong><\/h3>\n

David Primo<\/strong><\/a>, the Ani and Mark Gabrellian Professor and a professor of political science<\/a><\/strong> and business administration at the 糖心传媒<\/strong><\/a>, and Jeffrey Milyo<\/a><\/strong>, a professor of economics and chair of the economics department at the University of Missouri, say the reality is very different.<\/p>\n

In their new book, Campaign Finance and American Democracy: What the Public Really Thinks and Why it Matters<\/em><\/a><\/strong> (University of Chicago Press, 2020), the duo argues that campaign finance reform is not a \u201ccure-all for what ails American democracy\u2014at a time when it is viewed by many academics and practitioners as essential medicine.\u201d Says Primo: \u201cAmericans believe, for instance, that super PAC spending dominates campaigns, which is false.\u201d<\/p>\n

Primo and Milyo surveyed a total of 4,000 Americans in 2015 and in 2016\u2014and about 150 experts in 2017\u2014about their views on money in US politics. They also collected survey data on trust and confidence in government spanning three decades to study the effects of changes in campaign finance laws on trust.<\/p>\n

Having aggregated the results of decades of survey responses, the authors conclude that changes in state-level campaign finance laws\u2014where most changes in the laws take place, making it an ideal testing ground for social scientists\u2014have little to no effect on attitudes toward government, contrary to conventional wisdom. The finding, the authors argue, is perhaps the book\u2019s most important conclusion, as it calls into question four decades of legal justifications for campaign finance reform.<\/p>\n

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The authors asked a representative sample of the American public before the 2016 election and then campaign finance experts in 2017 whether they agreed or disagreed with statements about campaign financing. More than half of the public agrees or strongly agrees with the five statements here. According to the authors, partisan differences in the opinions are minimal: \u201cDemocrats are in sync with Republicans, liberals with conservatives, Trump voters with Clinton voters: money is a malign force in American politics.\u201d (糖心传媒 illustration \/ Researchers and Stephen Dow)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018The elites are wrong\u2019 about money in politics<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The researchers\u2019 other key findings on campaign finance include the following:<\/p>\n