{"id":292732,"date":"2018-01-19T13:29:23","date_gmt":"2018-01-19T18:29:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=292732"},"modified":"2018-01-31T08:49:55","modified_gmt":"2018-01-31T13:49:55","slug":"rochester-professor-part-national-campaign-finance-task-force-292732","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/rochester-professor-part-national-campaign-finance-task-force-292732\/","title":{"rendered":"Rochester professor part of national campaign finance task force"},"content":{"rendered":"

The public is fed up with the US campaign finance system and supports reforms to restrict contributions and expenditures of political candidates and groups. According to a 2015 New York Times\/CBS News<\/em> survey, 84 percent of Americans believe that money has too much influence in American political campaigns, and 85 percent believe that campaign finance is in need of fundamental changes or complete rebuilding.<\/p>\n

But according to research by David Primo<\/a>, the Ani and Mark Gabrellian Professor and associate professor of political science and business administration at the University of Rochester, and Jeffrey Milyo, an economist at the University of Missouri, there\u2019s a disconnect between what large swaths of the public believe about campaign finance law, and the reality. Addressing that disconnect is critical to policymaking.<\/p>\n

Both are contributors to a national campaign finance report released today in Washington at the Bipartisan Policy Center<\/a> by an expert task force modeled on the 2013 Presidential Commission on Election Administration.<\/p>\n

The report, Campaign Finance in the United States: Assessing an Era of Fundamental Change<\/em>, examines the current state of the US campaign finance system and its implications for future elections. In its executive summary, the report concludes that over the last 15 years the system has changed dramatically in terms of law, politics, and technology, making it \u201calmost unrecognizable to participants in the 1970s system,\u201d when the modern campaign finance system was born.<\/p>\n

\u201cCampaign finance is an area where there is often more heat than light. Political scientists have a responsibility to be more involved in the public discussion.\u201d<\/div>\n

As part of their work on the task force, Primo and Milyo conducted two national surveys in 2015 and 2016 to assess the public\u2019s views on campaign finance, how concerned the public is about the role money plays in the political system, and what\u2014if anything\u2014should be done about it. These surveys, discussed in the report and in a companion paper<\/a>, form the basis for their book project Campaign Finance and American Democracy: What the Public Really Thinks and Why It Matters<\/em>.<\/p>\n

They found that even as the public supports campaign finance reform, many are misinformed about key aspects of campaign finance law. That\u2019s not surprising, they argue, considering the complexity of the law. Moreover, they found that large shares of the public, already mistrustful of the political system, are skeptical that reform would have a meaningful impact on the workings of American democracy.<\/p>\n

Milyo and Primo\u2019s research forms the basis for the report\u2019s assessment that political scientists should \u201cshoulder some of the blame\u201d for the public and the media\u2019s apparent misunderstanding of basic facts about campaign financing: \u201cWe have failed in many cases to bring to light the data and analysis that preoccupy experts in the field,\u201d the report finds.<\/p>\n

For example, their research shows that many proposals that are popular with the public are unlikely to bring the desired results.<\/p>\n

\u201cPublic opinion on campaign finance is far more complex than the media or reformers would have you believe. In fact, our research calls into question the foundation of modern campaign finance law, which rests on the belief that stricter laws will increase public confidence in government,\u201d says Primo, the author of several papers and op-eds on campaign finance.<\/p>\n

Among the report\u2019s key findings:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Super PACs<\/strong>\u2014Created by a court ruling less than six years ago, they have become the dominant actors and \u201cthe vehicle of choice\u201d for big donors. That means a relatively small group of people is providing an increasing share of the money spent on political campaigns.<\/li>\n
  2. Parties<\/strong>\u2014Due to the rise of Super PACs and related organizations, the political party network has changed dramatically, creating groups that are \u201calter egos of parties and candidates\u201d and independent groups that compete for large donors.<\/li>\n
  3. Corporations<\/strong>\u2014The feared cash influx from corporations in the aftermath of the US Supreme Court\u2019s decision in Citizens United vs. FEC <\/em>(expanding the ways in which corporations and unions could spend on campaigns) has not happened. While some individual large campaign donors have corporate connections, only a small share of campaign financing comes directly from corporations.<\/li>\n
  4. Disclosure<\/strong>\u2014The evidence about undisclosed money sources is inconsistent: while the amount of undisclosed money (most of it through 501(c)(4) organizations and some through Super PACs) grew in the 2012 presidential election, it declined in 2016.<\/li>\n
  5. New Media<\/strong>\u2014While television ads continued to receive the largest share of campaign dollars in 2016, the last election marked perhaps a \u201cwatershed moment\u201d with record spending on internet and social media campaigns, which going forward will likely cause a major shift in campaign strategies\/candidates.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \u201cCampaign finance is an area where there is often more heat than light,\u201d says Primo, an expert in fiscal policy, campaign finance law, and corporate strategy. \u201cPolitical scientists have a responsibility to be more involved in the public discussion.\u201d Primo has testified before Congress on numerous occasions and has served as an expert witness in several campaign finance cases, including two that reached the US Supreme Court.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    In a new research report, professor David Primo argues that there\u2019s a disconnect between what the public believe about campaign finance law and the reality, and that many popular reform proposals unlikely to bring the desired results.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":942,"featured_media":292762,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[456],"tags":[1696,21462,8756,18572,16072],"class_list":["post-292732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-society-culture","tag-david-primo","tag-department-of-political-science","tag-elections","tag-research-finding","tag-school-of-arts-and-sciences"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nRochester professor part of national campaign finance task force<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In a new research report, professor David Primo argues that that many reform proposals that are popular with the public are unlikely to bring the desired results.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/rochester-professor-part-national-campaign-finance-task-force-292732\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rochester professor part of national campaign finance task force\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In a new research report, professor David Primo argues that that many reform proposals that are popular with the public are unlikely to bring the desired results.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/rochester-professor-part-national-campaign-finance-task-force-292732\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News Center\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-01-19T18:29:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-01-31T13:49:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/fea-campaign-finance-protest.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sandra Knispel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sandra Knispel\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/rochester-professor-part-national-campaign-finance-task-force-292732\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/rochester-professor-part-national-campaign-finance-task-force-292732\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Sandra Knispel\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/48a5dd20d1ade85ff52a0babb9a550a5\"},\"headline\":\"Rochester professor part of national campaign finance task force\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-01-19T18:29:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-01-31T13:49:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/rochester-professor-part-national-campaign-finance-task-force-292732\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":838,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/rochester-professor-part-national-campaign-finance-task-force-292732\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/01\\\/fea-campaign-finance-protest.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"David Primo\",\"Department of Political Science\",\"elections\",\"research finding\",\"School of Arts and Sciences\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Society & Culture\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/rochester-professor-part-national-campaign-finance-task-force-292732\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/rochester-professor-part-national-campaign-finance-task-force-292732\\\/\",\"name\":\"Rochester professor part of national campaign finance task force\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/rochester-professor-part-national-campaign-finance-task-force-292732\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/rochester-professor-part-national-campaign-finance-task-force-292732\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/01\\\/fea-campaign-finance-protest.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-01-19T18:29:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-01-31T13:49:55+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/48a5dd20d1ade85ff52a0babb9a550a5\"},\"description\":\"In a new research report, professor David Primo argues that that many reform proposals that are popular with the public are unlikely to bring the desired results.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/rochester-professor-part-national-campaign-finance-task-force-292732\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/rochester-professor-part-national-campaign-finance-task-force-292732\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/rochester-professor-part-national-campaign-finance-task-force-292732\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/01\\\/fea-campaign-finance-protest.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/01\\\/fea-campaign-finance-protest.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":600,\"caption\":\"A new report out today from the from the Bipartisan Policy Center examines the current state of the US campaign finance system and its implications for future elections. (Getty Images photo)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/rochester-professor-part-national-campaign-finance-task-force-292732\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Rochester professor part of national campaign finance task force\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/\",\"name\":\"News Center\",\"description\":\"University of Rochester\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/48a5dd20d1ade85ff52a0babb9a550a5\",\"name\":\"Sandra Knispel\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/author\\\/sknispel\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Rochester professor part of national campaign finance task force","description":"In a new research report, professor David Primo argues that that many reform proposals that are popular with the public are unlikely to bring the desired results.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/rochester-professor-part-national-campaign-finance-task-force-292732\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Rochester professor part of national campaign finance task force","og_description":"In a new research report, professor David Primo argues that that many reform proposals that are popular with the public are unlikely to bring the desired results.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/rochester-professor-part-national-campaign-finance-task-force-292732\/","og_site_name":"News Center","article_published_time":"2018-01-19T18:29:23+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-01-31T13:49:55+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/fea-campaign-finance-protest.jpg","width":1000,"height":600,"type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Sandra Knispel","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sandra Knispel","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/rochester-professor-part-national-campaign-finance-task-force-292732\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/rochester-professor-part-national-campaign-finance-task-force-292732\/"},"author":{"name":"Sandra Knispel","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#\/schema\/person\/48a5dd20d1ade85ff52a0babb9a550a5"},"headline":"Rochester professor part of national campaign finance task force","datePublished":"2018-01-19T18:29:23+00:00","dateModified":"2018-01-31T13:49:55+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/rochester-professor-part-national-campaign-finance-task-force-292732\/"},"wordCount":838,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/rochester-professor-part-national-campaign-finance-task-force-292732\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/fea-campaign-finance-protest.jpg","keywords":["David Primo","Department of Political Science","elections","research finding","School of Arts and Sciences"],"articleSection":["Society & Culture"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/rochester-professor-part-national-campaign-finance-task-force-292732\/","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/rochester-professor-part-national-campaign-finance-task-force-292732\/","name":"Rochester professor part of national campaign finance task force","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/rochester-professor-part-national-campaign-finance-task-force-292732\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/rochester-professor-part-national-campaign-finance-task-force-292732\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/fea-campaign-finance-protest.jpg","datePublished":"2018-01-19T18:29:23+00:00","dateModified":"2018-01-31T13:49:55+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#\/schema\/person\/48a5dd20d1ade85ff52a0babb9a550a5"},"description":"In a new research report, professor David Primo argues that that many reform proposals that are popular with the public are unlikely to bring the desired results.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/rochester-professor-part-national-campaign-finance-task-force-292732\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/rochester-professor-part-national-campaign-finance-task-force-292732\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/rochester-professor-part-national-campaign-finance-task-force-292732\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/fea-campaign-finance-protest.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/fea-campaign-finance-protest.jpg","width":1000,"height":600,"caption":"A new report out today from the from the Bipartisan Policy Center examines the current state of the US campaign finance system and its implications for future elections. (Getty Images photo)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/rochester-professor-part-national-campaign-finance-task-force-292732\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Rochester professor part of national campaign finance task force"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/","name":"News Center","description":"University of Rochester","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#\/schema\/person\/48a5dd20d1ade85ff52a0babb9a550a5","name":"Sandra Knispel","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/author\/sknispel\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292732","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/942"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=292732"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292732\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":301142,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292732\/revisions\/301142"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/292762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=292732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=292732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=292732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}