Campaign Financing: Four Views
Barkan, Joanne
Democratic politics in my version of utopia looks different from Michael Walzer's version in at least one way. When thousands of energetic citizens take part in a presidential or...
...If Congress enacts a new federal campaign law, how will it survive scrutiny by a Supreme Court that equates money spent and free speech...
...Finally, who really wants to do grassroots fund-raising anyway...
...Such a profoundly radical vision assumes a commensurately radical redistribution of wealth and restructuring of the economy...
...I don't understand why Walzer sets up the solution to the corruption of American democracy as an either/or proposition: "We can deal with corruption . . . by radically reducing the inequality and tolerating the private financing or by tolerating the inequality and banning the political use of private money...
...How do they show their strong support beyond a "mere vote...
...I believe that all the arguments in favor of public financing in an ideal world make it the best alternative now, too...
...An hour is better spent defending your candidate's environmental policy than trying to please potential contributors enough to get a few checks...
...Yet enough inequality will remain to corrupt the political process if campaigns are privately funded...
...What kind of winnowing process will work best...
...Campaigns that never ask recruits to make the money pitch might attract more volunteers...
...Democracy— including the grassroots participatory kind— would be better off...
...But Michael Walzer says he, too, would miss private fund-raising...
...A campaign that organizes five admission-free debates might reach many more citizens than a campaign that turns three of those events into fundraisers...
...Public funds would pay for political campaigns...
...Second, once money is no longer a variable in a campaign, other kinds of grassroots activities become crucial...
...many refuse to do it...
...The measure passed with a twelve-point margin...
...A progressive tax system and a strong public sector prevent inequalities from increasing to anything even remotely resembling the indecent levels we have today...
...A broad grassroots coalition that included labor unions, environmentalists, and some businesses put a referendum in favor of public funding for campaigns on the ballot in Maine in November 1996...
...This nationwide reform effort deserves the left's time, energy, and even enthusiasm...
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...This presupposes equal access to quality health care, education, affordable housing, jobs, pensions, safety-net programs, a clean environment, and so on...
...Television stations would "donate" air time for serious debate...
...Barred from fund-raising, will citizens languish at home during campaigns, suffocated by a behemoth state which forbids bake sales...
...Legislation limiting private funds is making headway in sixteen other states...
...some will succeed in their endeavors, others will fail...
...The goal is not impossible...
...So he supports public funding as a second-best alternative...
...The contests would be blissfully short, intense, and economically efficient...
...Yet even the best alternative brings up both technical questions and an immense political problem...
...Leftists of the democratic type share a basic definition of the good society: true equality of opportunity...
...That's the purpose of public financing...
...Wouldn't democracy benefit if that time and energy went into analyzing, publicizing, and arguing substantive issues...
...Not all the people who declare themselves candidates can, or should, get money and media access...
...A decent American democracy clearly needs both to reduce inequality and get the private money out of elections...
...He believes grassroots involvement would decline and citizens would lose an important way of indicating the intensity of their support...
...All the while, people in a true democracy are free to make choices: some will be more interested in earning money than others...
...When thousands of energetic citizens take part in a presidential or congressional campaign, they might help organize a rally, update a web site, pass out leaflets, or clean up headquarters, but they would not get on the phone to ask for money...
...In his ideal world, he would like to see resources "more or less equally distributed among individuals" and privately funded campaigns...
...Walzer worries about the people who have no time or energy to work in a campaign...
...I think we will eventually need to amend the Constitution to allow government to cut off private campaign funds...
...We still have to devise a fair way to distribute public funds and television and radio time among candidates...
...they would no longer be able to buy candidates and shape government policies...
...I think not for several reasons: First, among the myriad activities that make 6 • DISSENT Comments and Opinions up a campaign, fund-raising is not one of the most enriching in a political sense...
...Of course, former fat-cat power brokers would miss private fund-raising...
...Most folks hate it...
...some will be inclined to save their pennies, others won't...
...This is especially significant if—as Walzer argues—activists spend much of their time and energy raising money...
...The two go together because a society that remains free and democratic will never achieve a distribution of wealth so equal and so stable as to make the political use of private money unproblematic...
...Many will certainly find themselves with more time or energy during subsequent campaigns...
...They could also send their checks to an issue organization or charity whose work is compatible with their candidate's views...
...Happily they will live to leaflet another day...
...Each candidate has the same funds, so whoever mobilizes more people to put up posters, ring doorbells, and stuff envelopes has an advantage...
...Moreover, sharp disparities in wealth won't be passed on from generation to generation...
...Those who are chronically indisposed or unlikely to survive until the next election could at least put in a good word for their candidate to family members and friends...
...Will grassroots participation dwindle...
...some will love running a business, others will want to make art...
...In the end, I think the benefits of public funding will far outweigh the liabilities...
...Moving from utopia to real-time America, Walzer admits that public financing of political campaigns is less of a fantasy than a more equal distribution of wealth...
...The moment has come for bonfires and parades...
Vol. 44 • July 1997 • No. 3
