In the wake of Watergate, Congress passed the Federal Election
Campaign Act (FECA) in an effort to prevent the corruption of
future elections. The U.S. Supreme Court, in Buckley v. Valeo
(1976), defined corruption as quid pro quo-"get for giving"-meaning
Congress could only regulate the kind of corruption that had
occurred if a campaign contributor received political favors from
the candidate. This definition has since shaped and limited efforts
at campaign finance reform, often with ironic and unintended
consequences. By shifting the focus to the source and amount of
contributions, the justices in the Buckley decision ignored
disparities in funding and the resulting ability of particular
candidates to dominate communication channels. In Coining
Corruption, legal and political historian Kurt Hohenstein provides
a hitherto untold story about the successes and limitations of
political reform. From 1876 until 1976, lawmakers and courts
permitted regulation that potentially infringed upon freedom of
speech: they understood corruption as the conversion of economic
power into political power. In their view, corruption existed if a
candidate's unfettered campaign spending overwhelmed other voices
and limited real deliberation. Yet, as Hohenstein shows, Buckley's
limited "quid pro quo" definition ignores these considerations.
Following the evolution of the campaign finance system through the
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2001 and the Supreme Court's
decisions in McConnell v. FEC (2001) and Landell v. Sorrell (2006),
Hohenstein calls for a return to a broad, historical understanding
of corruption. American democracy demands regulation of the sources
and amounts of campaign funding in order to prevent a monopoly on
the vehicles of political debate. Those interested in reform
politics, public policy, constitutional history, and Congress will
appreciate this groundbreaking study.
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