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Research Outline
Prepared for Patrick | Delivered January 27, 2020
Citizens United Supreme Court Ruling
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Goals
To determine how much money has entered US political campaigns since the Citizens United decision. This information will give insight into the effect of the Citizens United decision.
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Early Findings
Outcome and Impact of Citizens United Decision
On
January 21, 2010
, the Supreme Court reversed a century-old finance restriction in the case "
Citizens United
v. Federal Election Commission." This decision "enabled corporations and other outside groups to
spend unlimited funds
on elections."
According to this article, a significant outcome of the court ruling has been the creation of super political action committees (super PACs). These "are organizations that
raise and spend money
for campaigns that support or oppose political candidates, legislation, or ballot initiatives."
Prior to the ruling, traditional PACs had contribution limits "both in terms of
what they can receive
from individuals and what they can give to candidates." After the ruling, "outside groups could accept
unlimited contributions
from both individual donors and corporations" as long as this was not given directly to the candidates. These outside groups were labeled as super PACs and were "permitted to spend money on independently produced ads and on other
communications that promote
or attack specific candidates."
While super PACs are required to disclose their donors, these donors can include "dark money groups." Dark money is defined as "
election-related spending
where the source is secret." This often comes from "nonprofits that are not required to
disclose their donors
."
Spending by PACs
In 2010, there were
83 super PACs
that spent
$62,641,448
on elections. Of this amount,
$24.6 million
went to liberal candidates and
$58.6 million
went to conservative candidates.
In 2012, there were
1,275 super PACs
that raised
$828,980,572
and spent
$609,936,792
on elections. Of this amount,
$195.9 million
went to liberal candidates and
$407 million
went to conservative candidates.
In 2014, there were
1,282 super PACs
that raised
$695,579,901
and spent
$345,110,359
on elections. Of this amount,
$183.1 million
went to liberal candidates and
$150.7 million
went to conservative candidates.
In 2016, there were
2,393 super PACs
that raised
$1,790,569,447
and spent
$1,066,914,448
on elections. Of this amount,
$442.3 million
went to liberal candidates and
$612 million
went to conservative candidates.
In 2018, there were
2,395 super PACs
that raised
$1,567,304,432
and spent
$822,068,922
on elections. Of this amount,
$349.3 million
went to liberal candidates and
$436.9 million
went to conservative candidates.
Total Spending by Outside Sources
This shows the spending by outside sources in the
2012 elections
.
This shows the spending by outside sources in the
2014 elections
.
This shows the spending by outside sources in the
2016 elections
.
T
h
i
s
shows the spending by outside sources in the
2018 elections
.
Cost of Federal Elections
The cost of congressional elections has increased throughout the years. In 2008, the total cost of congressional races was
$2,485,952,737
. In 2010, this was
$3,631,712,836
; in 2012 this was
$3,664,141,430
; in 2014 this was
$3,845,393,700
; in 2016 this was
$4,124,304,874
; in 2018 this was
$5,725,183,133
.
I
n
2004, the total cost of presidential races was
$1,910,230,862
; in 2008 this was
$2,799,728,146
; in 2012 this was
$2,621,415,792
; in 2016 this was
$2,386,876,712
.
Summary of Findings
During the initial hour of research, we focused on understanding the Citizens United decision and what changes this ruling brought about.
It was possible to determine the effect of the decision and show in monetary terms how outside contributions have increased.
Also, the cost of federal elections has been provided for both congressional and presidential elections.
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