Shaping the Agenda

An Activity Exploring How Fair Elections Can Reshape our Democratic Process

Introduction to the Activity: Shaping the Agenda

This activity is grounded in the following reality: running for federal office is extremely expensive. The legitimacy of a candidate’s campaign is often (though not always) dependent on the amount of money that that candidate can raise. Since candidates depend on large donors, their agendas are shaped by the concerns of those individuals. This activity explores how one form of election reform, Fair Elections, can change the way in which our legislative agendas are written.

What Is Fair Elections or Public Financing?

Campaign Finance Reform comes in many different forms. Many individuals support some approaches while opposing others. There are two main types of CFR: (1) taking money out of politics and (2) public financing.

“Full public financing, also referred to as “fair elections,” gives candidates the option to forgo all outside fundraising in exchange for a hefty lump sum of taxpayer dollars. To qualify for funding candidates must first demonstrate broad-based public support by collecting a pre-determined number of small contributions (under most schemes these are pegged at about $5 each). If a candidate who buys into the system is outspent by a challenger who doesn’t, she receives additional public matching funds usually of up to three times the original sum.” 1

Roles for this Activity

There are four candidates running for Governor. These include:

1. Two Privately Funded Candidates: These candidates must raise $500 for their campaigns.

2. One Fair Elections Candidate: This candidate does not need to raise any money.

3. The Non-Fair Elections, Non-Privately Funded Candidate: This candidate also raises no money.

The privately funded and fair elections candidates each have one assistant. Everyone else will pretend to be constituents. Some of you will receive money to contribute to campaigns. Others will not.

Procedure for this Activity

Phase One: Preparation (five minutes)

• Constituents: Each constituent should write down three priorities in order of importance (these can be anything).

• Candidates and their assistants should prepare their strategies.

Phase Two: Campaign (fifteen minutes)

• Candidates and Assistants: Your objective is to come up with a platform with five priorities. These priorities should be based on discussions that you have with constituents. Additionally, the privately funded candidates must raise $500 for their campaigns from constituents with funds.

• Constituents: You should try and get your priorities on the agendas of the different candidates. Constituents with money to contribute might conditionally provide contributions in order to get their issues on the agendas.

Phase Three: Speeches and Posters (ten minutes)

• The two privately funded candidates and the Fair Elections candidate can write their priorities on a poster and will then have two minutes to pitch their agenda.

• The non-fair elections, non-privately funded candidate will not get a poster and will have 45 seconds to speak.

Phase Four: Voting (five minutes) – the constituents will vote to elect one of the candidates.

Activity Presented by Michael Schachter, Democracy Matters, for Harvard Social Forum – March 19, 2005

1. Quoted from Sasha Post’s Putting the Money Back In Politics (Harvard Crimson. November 3, 2004).