| Description: | Issue advocacy communications have become increasingly popular over the federal election cycles. Often these advertisements could be interpreted to favor or disfavor certain candidates, while also serving to inform the public about a policy issue. However, unlike communications that expressly advocate the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate, the Supreme Court has ruled that issue ads are constitutionally protected First Amendment speech and cannot be regulated in any manner. According to most lower court rulings, only speech containing express words of advocacy of election or defeat, also known as “express advocacy” or “magic words” can be regulated as election-related communications and therefore be subject to the requirements of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA). Unlike express advocacy communications, therefore, issue ads may be paid for with funds unregulated by federal law, i.e., soft money |
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| Creator(s): | |
| Creation Date: | July 10, 2001 |
| Partner(s): |
UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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| Collection(s): |
Congressional Research Service Reports
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| Usage: |
Total Uses: 5
Past 30 days: 0
Yesterday: 0
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| Publisher Info: |
Publisher Name: Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress
Place of Publication: Washington D.C., USA
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| Original Creation Date: | July 10, 2001 | |
| Description: | Issue advocacy communications have become increasingly popular over the federal election cycles. Often these advertisements could be interpreted to favor or disfavor certain candidates, while also serving to inform the public about a policy issue. However, unlike communications that expressly advocate the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate, the Supreme Court has ruled that issue ads are constitutionally protected First Amendment speech and cannot be regulated in any manner. According to most lower court rulings, only speech containing express words of advocacy of election or defeat, also known as “express advocacy” or “magic words” can be regulated as election-related communications and therefore be subject to the requirements of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA). Unlike express advocacy communications, therefore, issue ads may be paid for with funds unregulated by federal law, i.e., soft money |
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| Physical Description: |
6 pages. |
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| Partner: |
UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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| Collection: |
Congressional Research Service Reports
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| Resource Type: | Text | |
| Format: | Text | |
