Political Speech Research Reports
First Amendment | Political Speech
Information at the Margin: Campaign Finance Disclosure Laws, Ballot Issues, and Voter Knowledge
All 24 states that permit voters to cast ballots directly on policy matters also require that contributions and expenditures on ballot issue campaigns be disclosed publicly. Scholars assert that information about the financial involvement of…
First Amendment | Political Speech
The Public’s Right to Know Versus Compelled Speech: What Does Social Science Research Tell Us About the Benefits and Costs of Campaign Finance Disclosure in Non-Candidate Elections?
The National Conference of State Legislatures has called campaign finance disclosure the most basic form of campaign finance regulation and further notes that “[a]ll states require some level of disclosure from candidates, committees, and political…
First Amendment | Political Speech
Full Disclosure
Publicly disclosing contributions to ballot issue campaigns does little to help voters make better choices—and instead imposes substantial costs on people wishing to participate in politics.
First Amendment | Political Speech
Publicly Funded Elections Infringe on Candidates’ First Amendment Rights
Suggested citation: Primo, D. M. (2011). Publicly funded elections infringe on candidates’ First Amendment rights. In N. G. Dziedzic (Ed.), Election Spending (Opposing Viewpoints Series, pp. 74–83). Greenhaven Press.
First Amendment | Political Speech
Keep Out
Campaign-finance laws protect political insiders by making it harder for upstart citizen groups to form and bring new voices to public debate.
First Amendment | Political Speech
What Does Research Say About Public Funding for Political Campaigns?
The best available evidence suggests that funding political campaigns with public dollars does little to reduce special interest influence, encourage competitive races or boost political participation.
First Amendment | Political Speech
Mowing Down the Grassroots
Grassroots lobbying—encouraging citizens to contact public officials in order to affect public policy—is quintessential representative democracy in action. However, as this report documents, sweeping lobbying laws in 36 states threaten to strangle grassroots movements in…
First Amendment | Political Speech
Politics for Professionals Only: Ballot Measures, Campaign Finance “Reform,” and the First Amendment
When Scott Eckern donated money to an election committee, little did he know that it would cost him his job of 25 years. Eckern had worked successfully as the artistic director of the California Musical…
First Amendment | Political Speech
Locking Up Political Speech
Americans were once free to speak about politics without asking permission from the government or being forced to document their political activities for the authorities. But under the guise of “campaign finance reform,” government regulation…
First Amendment | Political Speech
Mandatory disclosure for ballot initiative campaigns
This research examines some of the assumptions inherent in discussions of campaign-finance disclosure laws as they relate to ballot issues. Specifically, it tests the theory that mandatory disclosure contributes to “better” (that is, more informed)…
First Amendment | Political Speech
Campaign Finance Red Tape
Twenty-four states permit citizens to make laws directly through ballot measures. These states also regulate how citizens—if they band together—may speak out about them. In the name of “disclosure,” these regulations impose complicated registration and…
First Amendment | Political Speech
Disclosure Costs
This study examines the impact of one of the most common features of campaign finance regulations: mandatory disclosure of contributions and contributors’ personal information. While scholars have looked at the effects of other kinds of…