The Future of Campaign Finance: Congress, the FEC, and the Courts

Campaign finance is yet again under the microscope as politicians, regulators, political parties, interest groups and courts grapple with the fallout from recent reforms. Controversy has arisen over the status of new section 527 organizations, the regulation of political advertising on the Internet, and the future of the presidential public funding system.

The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 was implemented for the 2004 election but uncertainty remains about its impact and future. Congress has several bills to amend federal election law; the FEC is involved in investigations and rulemaking that could redefine the meaning of the law, and the Supreme Court has agreed to hear two important campaign finance cases this term.

Three of the country’s leading experts on campaign finance reform and coauthors of The New Campaign Finance Sourcebook (Brookings 2005), will discuss what was learned from the 2004 election cycle and what developments in Congress, the Federal Election Commission (FEC), and the courts lie ahead. Senior Fellow Thomas Mann will moderate the discussion with Brookings coauthors Anthony Corrado – the Charles A. Dana Professor of Government at Colby College and a nonresident senior fellow – and Trevor Potter, former FEC chair and now a Brookings nonresident senior fellow.

Speakers will take questions after their remarks.