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Reframing The Federal Election Commission: A Nonpartisan Solution, Abby Evans

Public Administration & Policy

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is known for its dysfunction: political gridlock, insufficient funding, and vacancies that hinder enforcement of campaign finance law. This study suggests the root of the problem lies in the agency’s character as a bipartisan institution, and proposes a nonpartisan reframing. This research offers statistical analysis of Supreme Court justice confirmation votes to inform a theory-based restructure of the FEC. The Court’s confirmation process has historically utilized a supermajority cloture vote, however, that threshold was lowered to a simple majority in 2017. The result was an immediate spike of political polarization in the Court. Raising the …