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Rediscovering The Individual In Federal Election Law, Susan H. Marren

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The importance of the federal electoral process has traditionally been viewed by Congress as creating the need for heavy regulation to insure its strength and vitality. However, the contribution limitations provisions of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA) has a detrimental effect to the individual voter, forcing candidates to overlook individual citizens in favor of organizations with large fundraising capabilities. FECA was initially enacted to compel candidates to appeal to more individual voters, mainly by limiting contributions from either individual citizens or corporations. Yet, the Act also permits a corporation or labor organization to create a separate segregated …