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Evaluating Campaign Finance Oversight

An Assessment of the Federal Election Commission

Karen Denice Sebold

$180

Hardback

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English
Lexington Books
30 July 2024
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is the primary agency enforcing campaign finance laws in the US, and it has long been portrayed as a toothless tiger. Given the importance of campaign finance laws in protecting democracy, the characterization of the FEC as an ineffective regulator is problematic. To understand why the agency has a weak reputation, this book explores changes in campaign finance laws, the underfunding of the agency, untimely commissioner appointments, and how this has affected the enforcement of campaign finance laws between 2002 and 2020. This study finds that as campaign finance laws have weakened in the US, so has the FEC’s ability to enforce them. The agency’s resources have stagnated, so the penalties and fines issued by the agency have dropped. There are multiple periods when the agency is absent a quorum because of too few commissioners at the Commission, and it is increasingly unable to proceed with agency business. Furthermore, the empty commissioner seats have led to a partisan imbalance that has favored the Republicans and allowed them to dominate decision-making. Now, the outcomes of allegations of wrongdoing are increasingly closing by default rather than bipartisan consensus.
By:  
Imprint:   Lexington Books
Country of Publication:   United States
Dimensions:   Height: 236mm,  Width: 157mm,  Spine: 19mm
Weight:   503g
ISBN:   9781666949797
ISBN 10:   1666949795
Pages:   202
Publication Date:  
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Undergraduate
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
List of Figures List of Tables Preface List of Abbreviations Introduction Chapter 1: The Federal Election Commission and the Oversight of Campaign Finance Chapter 2: The Tug of War Over Campaign Finance Law Chapter 3: Weaponized Bureaucrats: The Administrative (In)Capacity of the Federal Election Commission Chapter 4: The Crises of Credibility and Leadership at the Federal Election Commission Chapter 5: The Partisan Co-optation of the Federal Election Commission Conclusion: Chaos or Coherence? Appendix References Index About the Author

Karen Denice Sebold is an assistant professor at the University of Arkansas.

Reviews for Evaluating Campaign Finance Oversight: An Assessment of the Federal Election Commission

Evaluating Campaign Finance Oversight delivers what it promises . . . The book meets a glaring need in campaign finance scholarship by looking at the agency from all angles. It is appropriate for scholars, graduate students, law students, and advanced undergraduates. Every research library should have a copy. * Choice * “Although there are many books on campaign finance, this is the first book to provide a clear picture of how the Federal Election Commission makes decisions. This timely, well-written book will be indispensable to anyone interested in how government regulates the role of money in politics, or to anyone with an interest in the federal bureaucracy.” -- Robert Boatright, Clark University “This portrait of the FEC demonstrates that it functions poorly as a regulator of federal campaign finances for reasons both within and beyond the agency's control. Assembling a history of the agency and campaign finance law more broadly, Sebold provides the most complete account of an agency that lacks the capacity to keep up with the unruly world of money in US elections.” -- Barry Burden, University of Wisconsin-Madison “Voters hate money coursing through our political system. Sebold effectively documents the Federal Election Commission’s struggles—some self-inflicted, some inflicted by the courts and Congress—to promote clean elections.” -- Eric Heberlig, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte


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