Necessary Evil? Examining the McCain-Feingold Act and Functions and Influences of PACs
Author: Chung-li Wu, Chi-chun Huang
Abstract / Chinese PDF Download
Undoubtedly, campaign finance plays an important role in the electoral process and how to regulate the financing has been one of the major disputes in American politics during the past decade. Due to the sharply rising electoral expenditures, candidates are forced to expand all possible ways for raising funds in the election. Except for the small contributions by the voters, all types of contributions by political action committees (PACs) become the main source of raising electoral funds for candidates. On April 2001, the House passed the McCain-Feingold Act, looking forward to revising Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) on a large scale. The reform aiming at curbing soft money intervening with the electoral process has already raised lively concerns; especially, the phenomenon of interest groups’ interference with the party function becomes the political focus again. With respect to this line of argument, this study intends to analyze two related issues: 1) to investigate the role of PACs in the electoral process and further to analyze the strategies for PACs; and, 2) to comprehend the impact of PACs on American politics and to evaluate the debates and reforms of PACs. The American experience probably could serve well as an example for us to follow in regulating campaign finance.