IFS Research

There is a false perception that most states limit all forms of campaign contributions. While many states impose some limits on political giving, the reality ...

Generally, false statement laws prohibit “false” speech about candidates or public officials (including their official voting records). Analogous libel and slander statutes – which also ...

Taxpayer-financed campaign programs seek to replace private, voluntary contributions from citizens to the candidates of their choice with government grants of taxpayer dollars to candidates ...

On April 2, 2014, the Supreme Court issued its decision in McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission. 1 In that case, plaintiff Shaun McCutcheon challenged the overall limits imposed ...

First Amendment political speech freedoms dramatically increased last year as nine state legislatures continued to liberalize campaign finance laws in the wake of the 2010 ...

Advocates of taxpayer-funded political campaigns frequently argue that these systems improve government by increasing political participation and voter turnout. Common Cause, an organization that supports taxpayer-funded campaigns, claims that ...

This handbook is intended to introduce state lawmakers to general campaign finance and election administration issues. State elected officials are tasked with ensuring that citizens ...

Disclosure laws vary between the federal government and the states, and from state to state, but the general framework is quite uniform. Most campaign finance ...

Since the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United v. FEC, which freed corporations and labor unions to finance independent expenditures in support of federal candidates, the ...

Critics of taxpayer-financed political campaigns frequently argue that such programs increase government spending and reduce available public dollars for spending on other priorities. Advocates often respond that taxpayer funding ...