Pro Quo Corruption Political Institutions And Agencies

With this most recent party alignment we are experiencing, political institutions and agencies are having a more difficult time to addressing campaign finance regulations; thus, exposing loopholes and flaws in the system. Some of these lawsuits have been brought to the courts to dispute campaign regulations on a basis of constitutionality, such as infringing on 1st and 14th Amendment rights. This unfortunately allows the Supreme Court and its jurisprudence to try and make decisions based on their own interpretations regarding campaign finance. The amount of money that is dumped into campaigns today is tremendous. The FEC reported that candidates, parties and outside groups spent about $7 billion on the 2012 election (politico.com).†¦show more content†¦The biggest valued argument is that campaign finance regulation is unconstitutional, citing First Amendment values (Tokaji, p. 278). Others that also debate against campaign finance regulation see it as an infringement on political association. They believe that â€Å"individuals should be able to politically organize by pooling their resources for campaign-related activities; such as donating to a candidate’s campaign, political party, or other group seeking election†(Tokaji, p.279). Therefore, they should be constitutionally protected. I see this as a form of strengthening parties. By being able to associate yourself with a group with common goals or agendas, it is building strength amongst your party. When it comes to disclosure rules and regulations, many see that as an invasion of their privacy. When it comes to dealing with very large sums of money I believe that it is beneficial to see who donated, how much, and what the money is being spent on. If I were to be a big contributor to a party committee or a candidate, I would like to see where my money is going no matter how high of a threshold of donation. When it comes to cases in regards to campaign finance reform, we will look into to constitutional value, framework, and the purpose of the law. The cases include: Buckley v. Valeo, which set up the basic framework for judicial review of campaign finance regulations and hard money; Citizens United v. FEC,