Campaign Finance Reform in America

The American campaign for public office and the fundraising involved has evolved into a complex and costly institution. Likewise, the effort to limit the influence of money on politics as well as the evasion of restrictions on this influence is as much an institution. Some historians argue that the cycle is partly a product of the democratic system and the adverse price of having politicians pursue votes. When Senator John McCain of Arizona, an advocate for campaign finance reform during a unsuccessful bid for the Republican presidential nomination, declared that "the American people perceive the Congress as controlled by the monied special interests," he was echoing protests expressed for generations. 


Tocqueville cited the "shameful methods often used by candidates" and the "personal abuse spread by their enemies" during campaigning in his work Democracy in America. Furthermore, he cautioned that the negative aspects of elections would only increase in the future stating that "these evils are doubtless great, but they do not last long, whereas the accompanying advantages remain." Although candidates antagonize each other with a great intensity throughout the course of campaigning through devices like attack ads, this purposeful aggression dissipates into a strange calm post-election. However, the side that wins the office through aggression retains the advantages of this position long after the dust settles.