The Download of the Week is More Supply, More Demand: The Changing Nature of Campaign Financing for Presidential Primary Candidates by Richard L. Hasen. Here is the abstract:
Financing
a presidential party nomination campaign has been a complicated affair
for some time: candidates face contribution limits, source limitations,
extensive reporting requirements, and, for those candidates opting into
the voluntary public financing program, a strict spending limit.
Moreover, the campaign financing system is not only complex but
dynamic. The system recently has undergone two fundamental changes: (1)
the voluntary public financing system, with its accompanying strict
spending limit, is no longer an option for serious presidential
candidates, who would be grossly outspent by nonparticipating rivals;
and (2), the campaigns have come to rely ever more upon campaign
finance bundlers, who collect maximum contributions (currently set at
$2,300) from friends and associates, and upon "micro-donors," who give
less than $200 in the aggregate to a primary campaign. These changes
arose because of the changing legal rules governing money in
presidential elections and a dramatic lowering of the costs of
campaigning facilitated by the Internet. They may alter both the nature
of presidential campaigns as well as the types of candidates who are
viable to become general election candidates.This paper has three parts. First, it describes the two
recently-emerging fundamental changes in the campaign financing system
for presidential primary candidates. Second, it explains why these
changes have emerged now. Finally, it evaluates whether these changes
are likely to be positive or negative from the standpoint of political
equality and in terms of the quality and type of presidential
candidates who win their parties’ nominations.
Highly recommended.