Campaign Finance: Constitutional and Legal Issues of Soft Money

Description

"Soft money" has become one of the major issues in the area of campaign financing in federal elections. The controversy surrounding this issue is due to the perception that soft money may be the largest loophole in the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA). Soft money is broadly defined as funds that are raised and spent according to applicable state laws; that would be impermissible, under the FECA, to spend directly in federal elections and that may have an indirect influence on federal elections. This Issue Brief discusses three major types of soft money: political party soft money, corporate and labor … continued below

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Whitaker, L. Paige August 10, 2000.

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This report is part of the collection entitled: Congressional Research Service Reports and was provided by the UNT Libraries Government Documents Department to the UNT Digital Library, a digital repository hosted by the UNT Libraries. It has been viewed 94 times. More information about this report can be viewed below.

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Description

"Soft money" has become one of the major issues in the area of campaign financing in federal elections. The controversy surrounding this issue is due to the perception that soft money may be the largest loophole in the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA). Soft money is broadly defined as funds that are raised and spent according to applicable state laws; that would be impermissible, under the FECA, to spend directly in federal elections and that may have an indirect influence on federal elections. This Issue Brief discusses three major types of soft money: political party soft money, corporate and labor union soft money, and soft money used for issue advocacy communications.

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Congressional Research Service Reports

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is the public policy research arm of Congress. This legislative branch agency works exclusively for Members of Congress, their committees and their staff. This collection includes CRS reports from the mid-1960's through 2018—covering a variety of topics from agriculture to foreign policy to welfare.

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Creation Date

  • August 10, 2000

Added to The UNT Digital Library

  • June 16, 2005, 5:03 p.m.

Description Last Updated

  • Feb. 10, 2017, 1:26 p.m.

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Whitaker, L. Paige. Campaign Finance: Constitutional and Legal Issues of Soft Money, report, August 10, 2000; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs6363/: accessed June 6, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.

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