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Full-Text Articles in Election Law
In All Fairness: Using Political Broadcast Access Doctrine To Tailor Public Campaign Fund Matching, Andrew V. Moshirnia, Aaron T. Dozeman
In All Fairness: Using Political Broadcast Access Doctrine To Tailor Public Campaign Fund Matching, Andrew V. Moshirnia, Aaron T. Dozeman
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
Recent United States Supreme Court decisions have undermined the viability of campaign public financing systems, a vital tool for fighting political corruption. First, Citizens United v. FEC allowed privately financed candidates and independent groups to spend unlimited amounts of money on campaigning. Publicly financed candidates now risk being vastly outspent. Second, Arizona Free Enterprise Club’s Freedom PAC v. Bennett invalidated a proportional fund matching system whereby privately financed candidates’ or independent groups’ spending triggered funds to publicly funded candidates. These decisions effectuate a libertarian speech doctrine: all speakers, individual or corporate, must be absolutely unburdened. To comply with this approach, …
Political Candidates' Loyalty Oaths, Jeffrey F. Liss
Political Candidates' Loyalty Oaths, Jeffrey F. Liss
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
When Washington mustered his revolutionary army, when South Carolinians called for secession, and when Senator Joseph P. McCarthy kindled fears of Communist infiltration, many people affirmed their loyalty to the nation by swearing oaths. Perhaps the oath givers hoped to subdue the anxieties of those anxious times by reducing the ambiguities in the behavior and beliefs of others. Candidates for political office have not escaped suspicion; eight states still require political candidates to swear oaths of loyalty before their names can appear on the ballot. But constitutional doctrine and changing times have diminished the loyalty oath's scope and significance. This …