Abstract

The 1970's provided the greatest burst of campaign finance reform activities in this century. Fundamental changes of an historic nature occurred in the rules governing the role of political money in American politics.

The greatest single achievement during this period was the creation of public financing for presidential elections. The country learned an important lesson from Watergate and acted to take the American Presidency off the political auction block. Two other basic concepts also became a reality: campaign finance disclosure and contribution limitations.

These reforms were not meant to be written in stone. They were part of a process that recognized there would be an ongoing need for adjustments and in-course corrections as the laws were implemented. Most of the problems that have arisen have been incremental, not fundamental, in nature. These problems have not served to seriously challenge the basic concepts involved-that there should be public financing, contribution limits, and campaign finance disclosure for federal elections.

One ominous development in the campaign finance area did occur during the 1970's-the extraordinary growth of the political action committee [PAC] movement. This Article examines the PAC movement in American politics, sets forth proposals for placing new limits on the role and influence of PAC's, and discusses the constitutional questions involved with these limits.

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