Is the corrupting role of money in politics a new problem?

No! Did you know that in his first race for the Virginia House of Burgesses, George Washington served an average of a quart and a half of rum, wine, beer, and hard cider per person. He was criticized for unduly influencing the election! See The FEC and the Federal Campaign Finance Law.

Americans have always been sensitive to the relationship between money and politics. This sensitivity is tied to our determination to preserve a democracy in which all are fairly represented.

The struggle for campaign finance reform, as we know it today, began to heat up in the early 1970’s when Congress passed the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) that set limits on contributions by individuals, political parties and political action committees (PACS) and mandated public disclosure of contributions. Congress also established the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to enforce these new campaign laws. (See “Campaign Finance Reform: A Sourcebook.” Published by The Brookings Institution. Editors: Anthony Corrado, Thomas E. Mann, Dan Ortiz, Trevor Potter, and Frank Sorauf.”)

Despite efforts to fix a corrupt campaign finance system, the health of our electoral system has continued to deteriorate due to the corrupting influence of private money. Big money contributions to both Democratic and Republican candidates have skyrocketed during every election cycle. We need to fix a system that is indeed broken!