European University Institute Library

The appearance of corruption, testing the Supreme Court's assumptions about campaign finance reform, Daron R. Shaw, Brian E. Roberts, and Mijeong Baek

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

The appearance of corruption

electronic resource

bibliographydictionaries

Daron R. Shaw, Brian E. Roberts, and Mijeong Baek

Oxford scholarship online.

testing the Supreme Court's assumptions about campaign finance reform

In Buckley v. Valeo (1976), the US Supreme Court famously upheld the constitutionality of legislation limiting individual campaign contributions in federal elections. Key to the Court's decision is the notion that the government has a compelling interest in reducing 'the appearance of corruption.' By reducing the public's belief that elected officials are corrupt, the Court argues, we will see increased trust in government and, thereby, increased political participation. This behavioural model is unique in Supreme Court jurisprudence, yet has never been subjected to systematic empirical verification. This book identifies and tests the model with several national surveys. The data refute many of the linkages assumed by the Court, raising questions about the legal foundation for limiting political speech in federal election campaigns.--, Provided by publisher

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