Camp Politics Video Teaches with Humor

Public policy and legal issues may start out as boring and complicated topics, but no one ever said they must stay that way.

So, to better help the public understand the dangers of government-imposed campaign finance restrictions, the Institute for Justice breathed some life and humor into this often dry and complicated subject. Through a video called “Camp Politics,” which was written by IJ Senior Attorney Bert Gall, the Institute for Justice showed how politicians use campaign finance laws to silence their political opponents. As part of the Institute’s broader Citizen Speech initiative, IJ is working to illustrate how these laws harm ordinary people who want nothing more than to speak to their friends and neighbors about politics.

Our tongue-in-cheek video (available at www.ij.org/CampPolitics) focuses on the dirty little secret behind campaign finance laws: Incumbent politicians like them because they make it harder for those outside the political establishment to speak out against their reelection. Camp Politics offers a mock advertisement for a children’s summer camp that trains aspiring politicos. At Camp Politics, kids learn how to kiss babies, survive scandals, dine on pork, and—most importantly—circumvent the First Amendment in order to remain in office.

Although we want the video’s viewers to laugh, our primary goal is to show them that there is nothing funny about the damage these laws do to Americans’ First Amendment rights.

So far, 20,000 viewers have enjoyed their trip through Camp Politics. If you have not visited yet, be sure to enjoy this video today and share it with your friends. And while you are at it, check out the Institute’s videos on other cases, too.