Brett A. Seifried (American University – Washington College of Law – Administrative Law Review) has posted Finding Milton’s Meaning — Campaign Finance and Free Expression in Comparative Perspective: The United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
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This Article compares the campaign finance systems of the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada as they relate to each country's protection of the Freedom of Expression. This Article argues that, despite coming from common ground, the different forms of campaign finance regulation derive from the various philosophic frameworks adopted by thethree countries. In Part I, we clarify the structural framework by examining the forms the right can take and the right’s philosophical underpinnings. Further, we examine how the differing justifications create different scopes of protection. In Part II, we look at the system adopted by the United States, and then how that framework has greatly shaped the American system of campaign finance regulation. In Part III, we move to the United Kingdom and look at the legal framework of freedom of expression in the home of the English tradition. Then, we look at how that framework has been applied to British campaign finance, and note its divergence from the American model. In Part IV, we look at how Canada’s approach to expression mirrors the United Kingdom and the implications of Canada’s unique model for its own campaign finance regulatory structures. Finally, this Article reweaves the rainbow to evaluate the systems and see what, if any, lessons could cross-pollinate.