Citizens United v. the FEC overturned the 2002 McCain-Feingold law

Citizens United v. the FEC overturned the 2002 McCain-Feingold law (Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act), which regulated how much money could be spend by independent groups, such as corporations, right before primary and general elections. Who is right, the Supreme Court or Congress? Is money—especially money connected to special economic interests—a danger to democracy or is it, as Justice Kennedy says in his Citizens United opinion, protected speech?

1. Since the 1970s, when legislation was passed regulating campaign finances and creating the Federal Election Commission, Congress and the Supreme Court have been fighting over campaign finance law. a. Congress would like to rein in the influence of money on politics b. The Supreme Court argues that campaign expenditures are protected by the First Amendment as Free Speech 2. In 2010, the Supreme Court ruled in Citizens United vs. FEC that the government could not restrict independent expenditures by corporations or unions in support of candidates. a. The Court (majority opinion) argued that spending money on electioneering communication is effectively the same thing as free speech. b. It is protected by the First Amendment to the US Constitution c. When it comes to political speech, there is no difference between individuals and corporations.
2. Supporters of campaign finance regulation (such as the McCain-Feingold law) argue that independent corporate expenditures give rise to the appearance of corruption in politics (candidates if elected will favor corporations that made independent corporate expenditures that benefitted their campaign). a. As the chapter on Interest Groups tells us there is a difference between the special interests of for-profit corporations and the public interest. b. Special interests drown out the voices of ordinary citizens. Ordinary citizens don’t have interest group representation or the extraordinary amounts of money to produce issue advertisements.
3. From here out you must make your own argument in favor of or against the decision in Citizens United. The prompt invites you to move from the somewhat narrow topic of speech vs. corruption to the broader one of does money in politics threaten U.S. democracy?

Sample Solution