POLITICAL MONEY (HOOVER INST PRESS PUBLICATION) [Paperback]

Annelise Anderson (Author)

Book Description

Series: HOOVER INST PRESS PUBLICATION | Publication Date: June 5, 2000

Current proposals involve increasing the regulation of campaign expenditures, further restricting campaign donations, creating ever-larger bureaucracies, using public funding for federal campaigns, and attempting to limit political speech not only through legislation but also through constitutional amendment. Through articles, Supreme Court decisions, speeches, and op-eds, Political Money challenges the view that current proposals are truly an appropriate public policy approach to campaign finance and argues that controls on campaign expenditures and contributions limit freedom of speech; that controls on the use of such resources smack of censorship; that there is no credible evidence that campaign contributions buy votes; and that more rapid and complete public disclosure is critical.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

In this policy primer on campaign finance reform, Annelise Anderson sorts through the rhetoric, congressional hearings, and public debate to describe the current rules and regulations and to prescribe viable options for change.

Current proposals involve increasing the regulation of campaign expenditures, further restricting campaign donations, creating ever-larger bureaucracies, using public funding for federal campaigns, and attempting to limit political speech not only through legislation but also through constitutional amendment.

Through articles, Supreme Court decisions, speeches, and op-eds, Political Money challenges the view that current proposals are truly an appropriate public policy approach to campaign finance and argues that controls on campaign expenditures and contributions limit freedom of speech; that controls on the use of such resources smack of censorship; that there is no credible evidence that campaign contributions buy votes; and that more rapid and complete public disclosure is critical.

About the Author

Annelise Anderson is a senior research fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. She has written on a variety of public policy issues and is a former associate director of the federal Office of Management and Budget.

Contributors Floyd Abrams, Michael Patrick Allen, Annelise Anderson, Martin Anderson, Tom Bethell, Phillip Broyles, Bobby R. Burchfield, Warren Burger, John T. Doolittle, Pete Du Pont, Williamson M. Evers, Russell D. Feingold, Steve Forbes, David Frum, Meg Greenfield, Charles Krauthammer, Dan Manatt, Thomas E. Mann, David M. Mason, John McCain, Mitch McConnell, Trevor Potter, Jonathan Rauch, Larry J. Sabato, Robert J. Samuelson, Bradley A. Smith, Frank J. Sorauf, Dane Strother, Clarence Thomas, George F. Will

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Hoover Institution Press (June 5, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0817996729
• ISBN-13: 978-0817996727
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,597,459 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #54 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Nonfiction > Government > Elections
  • #72 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Nonfiction > Politics > Practical Politics

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars De-Mystifying Campaign Finance, February 26, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: POLITICAL MONEY (HOOVER INST PRESS PUBLICATION) (Paperback)

This book is a marvelous alternative to the common drivel that passes as analysis on the subject of campaign finance reform. Anderson has selected articles that are short and easy to read, yet detailed and informative. Want to know what exactly is meant by "soft money," or "issue ads"? It's here. Want to understand the constitutional restraints on regulation? It's here. Want to understand why reform never works? It's here (hint: and it's not because everyone is corrupt). Anderson includes analysis from a broad cross section of writers, but clearly skews her selections in favor of those usually ignored by the major media - that is, she gives equal time to writers and thinkers who argue that money is not the major problem in American politics. This book, along with FEC Commissioner Bradley Smith's new book, "Unfree Speech: The Folly of Campaign Finance Reform," is reshaping the academic debate over campaign finance reform. Yet it does so through a selection of short, simple essays accessible even to high school students. A very good book on an important policy issue.