| Review of: | A User's Guide to Campaign Finance Reform edited by Gerald C. Lubenow |
|---|---|
| Reviewed By: | Robin Kolodny |
| Reviewed in: | Political Studies Review |
| Date accepted online: | 04/03/2004 |
| Published in print: | Volume 1, Issue 2, Pages 196-301 |
North America
This edited book provides a critical look at some of the key assumptions underlying campaign finance reform movements in the USA. The topics discussed include the history of US campaign finance practices; the way in which the growth of money in politics is measured; public attitudes regarding the urgency of fixing the campaign finance system; effects of campaign money on policy outcomes; the real uses of soft money by political parties; whether contributing to politics counts as political participation; and how the US Supreme Court lacks good information to help it make decisions in campaign finance cases. The book concludes with a chapter on specific reform suggestions proposed by academics and prominent observers of campaign finance. This chapter is especially interesting since the bulk of these proposals became part of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002.
As with any edited book, some chapters are better presented than others. Two stand out: the chapter on the rate of growth in campaign spending by Ansolabehere, Gerber and Snyder; and the chapter on policy outcomes by Mayer. Ansolabehere, Gerber and Snyder suggest that the premise that money corrupts the political system is based on an incorrect belief that the amount of money in US politics has been rising at an alarming rate. They offer an alternative method of calculation - one that compares campaign money to the size of gross domestic product - and find that the growth of money in politics has remained relatively constant, suggesting that the burgeoning American interest groups have been providing proportionately less funds to the system. Mayer argues that the assumption that campaign contributions influence legislative outcomes directly is simplistic and applied too broadly. Instead, Mayer argues that legislative outcomes are complex, and that money in politics is but one element among many. The rush to blame money for the system's woes means that no reform will ever be perceived as a success because other structural factors have been neglected. The book is appropriate for specialists and non-specialists alike. It is written in an accessible style and does not presume detailed knowledge of the topic.