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Campaign finance refers to the means by which money is raised for election campaigns. As campaigns have many expenditures, ranging from the cost of travel for the candidate and others to the purchasing of air time for TV advertisements, candidates often spend a great deal of time and effort raising money to finance their cause. Image File history File links Gnome-globe. ... “Electioneering” redirects here. ... For other uses, see Politics (disambiguation). ... In the past, political campaigns were conducted using traditional methods of personal contact, such as television and radio media purchasing, print advertising and direct mail. ... Opposition research often referred to as oppo is the section of an election campaign designed to investigate the life and record of the opposing candidate. ... Political consulting is the business which has grown up around advising and assisting political campaigns, primarily in the United States. ... In politics, campaign advertising is the use of paid media (newspapers, radio, television, etc. ... Political campaign Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      Canvassing is the systematic contacting of individuals in a target group, often in a particular geographic area. ... Political campaign Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      An election promise is a promise made to the public by a politician who is trying to win an election. ... Get out the vote, sometimes GOTV, is a term used to describe two categories of political activity, both aimed at increasing the number of votes cast in one or more elections. ... Lawn signs placed near a polling place in the U.S., July 2004 Lawn signs are one of the most visible features of an election campaign in some countries. ... Political campaign Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      Negative campaigning is having too much doodoo in your underpants. ... An attack ad in election terms is an advertisement whose message is meant as an attack against another candidate or political party. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A push poll is a political campaign technique in which an individual or organization attempts to influence or alter the view of respondents under the guise of conducting a poll. ... Political campaign Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      This page is about a political tactic. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Look up Candidate in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... In United States and other democracies, political campaigns larger than a few individuals generally include a campaign manager whose role is to coordinate the campaigns operations. ... The staff of political campaigns are the people who get paid to formulate and implement the strategy needed to win an election. ... A political campaign is an effort to reach a certain political goal. ... In politics, campaign advertising is the use of paid media (newspapers, radio, television, etc. ...

Although the political science literature indicates that most contributors give to support candidates with whom they already in agreement,([1]) it is widely believed that donors expect something in return (such as specific legislation being enacted or defeated) so some have come to equate campaign finance with political corruption and bribery. These views have led some governments to impose restrictions on fundraising sources and techniques in the hope of eliminating perceived undue influence being given to monied interests. Another tactic is for the government, rather than private interests, to provide funding for campaigns. World map of the Corruption Perceptions Index by Transparency International, which measures the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among public officials and politicians. High numbers (green) indicate relatively less corruption, whereas lower numbers (red) indicate relatively more corruption. ... Bribery is a crime implying a sum or gift given alters the behaviour of the person in ways not consistent with the duties of that person. ... Political campaign Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      Campaign finance reform is the common term for the political effort in the United States to change the involvement of money in politics, primarily in political campaigns. ...

Democratic countries have differing views on what is legal and what types of donations to political parties and campaigns are acceptable.

Several disciplines, such as economics, public policy, public choice theory, and collective action theory attempt to understand the dynamics of the political processes. Face-to-face trading interactions on the New York Stock Exchange trading floor. ... Public policy is a course of action or inaction chosen by public authorities to address a problem. ... Public choice theory is a branch of economics that studies the decision-making behavior of voters, politicians and government officials from the perspective of economic theory, namely game theory and decision theory. ... The economic theory of collective action is concerned with the provision of public goods (and other collective consumption) through the collaboration of two or more individuals, and the impact of externalities on group behavior. ...

Private financing

Some democracies rely heavily on private donors to bankroll political campaigns. In these countries, fundraising is often a significant activity for the campaign staff and the candidate, especially in larger and more prominent campaigns. For example, one unscientific survey in the United States found that 23% of candidates for statewide office surveyed spent more than half of their scheduled time raising money, and over half of all candidates surveyed spent at least 1/4 of their time on fundraising.^[1]. The tactics used can include direct mail solicitation, attempts to encourage supporters to contribute via the Internet, direct solicitation from the candidate, and high-priced events specifically for the purpose of fundraising. Federal courts Supreme Court Circuit Courts of Appeal District Courts Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries Atlas  US Government Portal      A U.S. state is any one of the fifty subnational entities of... Direct marketing is a form of marketing that attempts to send its messages directly to consumers, often without the use of intervening media. ...

Most countries that rely on private donations to fund campaigns require extensive disclosure of donations, frequently including information such as the name, employer and address of donors. This is intended to allow for policing of undue donor influence by other campaigns or by good government groups, while preserving the benefits of private financing, including the right to make donations and to spend money for political speech, and allowing the government to save the expense of funding political speech which some citizens may find odious (see [2]). Supporters of private financing systems believe that, in addition to avoiding government limitations on speech, they foster civic involvement and ensure that a diversity of views are heard. Disclosure means the giving out of information, either voluntarily or to be in compliance with legal regulations or workplace rules. ... The political slogan, Good Government, was used in English-speaking countries in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. ...

Public financing

Other countries choose to use government funding to run campaigns. The mechanisms for this can be quite varied, ranging from direct subsidy of political parties to government matching funds for certain types of private donations (often small donations) and many other systems as well. Supporters of public financing generally believe that the public financing system decreases corruption; in addition, many proponents believe that public financing promotes other values, such as civic participation or greater faith in the political process. Not all public financing is delivered in the form of money; some systems require campaign materials (often air time on television) to be provided at very low rates to the candidates. Critics sometimes complain of the expense of the public financing systems. Libertarian critics of the system argue that government should not subsidize political speech. Other critics argue that public financing, with its emphasis on equalizing money resources, merely exaggerates differences in non-monetary resources. Political Parties redirects here. ... See also Libertarianism and Libertarian Party Libertarian,is a term for person who has made a conscious and principled commitment, evidenced by a statement or Pledge, to forswear violating others rights and usually living in voluntary communities: thus in law no longer subject to government supervision. ...

In many countries, such as Germany and the United States, campaigns are funded by a combination of private and public money.

See also

• Campaign finance in the United States
• Political donations in Australia
• Campaign finance reform
• Clean elections
• Hatch Act of 1939
• Hard money (politics)
• No-bid contract
• Pacific scandal
• Soft money
• Election promise

Campaign finance in the United States is the financing of electoral campaigns at the federal, state, and local levels. ... The term political donations refers to gifts to a politician, a political party, or an election campaign. ... Political campaign Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      Campaign finance reform is the common term for the political effort in the United States to change the involvement of money in politics, primarily in political campaigns. ... Clean Elections (sometimes called Clean Money or Voter-Owned Elections) is a system of government financing of political campaigns used in a small number of states and local political jurisdictions in the United States. ... The Hatch Act of 1939 is a United States federal law whose main provision is to prohibit federal employees (civil servants) from engaging in partisan political activity. ... In politics, hard money refers to direct contributions, subject to federal contribution limits, made to committees regulated by the Federal Elections Commission. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The Pacific scandal involves the allegations of bribes being taken by Canadas Conservative government of Sir John A. Macdonald. ... Soft money refers to money used to advance a particular political campaign in such a manner as to skirt the legal limits on how much money individuals or organizations are allowed to contribute to political campaigns (termed hard money). ... Political campaign Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      An election promise is a promise made to the public by a politician who is trying to win an election. ...

References

Ansolabehere, Stephen; John de Figueiredo, James M. Snyder, Jr. (2003). "Why Is There So Little Money in U.S. politics?" (PDF). Journal of Economic Perspectives 17 (1): 105-130. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved on 2007-03-12.  PDF is an abbreviation with several meanings: Portable Document Format Post-doctoral fellowship Probability density function There also is an electronic design automation company named PDF Solutions. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 71st day of the year (72nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Will, George. "'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Hypocrisy", The Washington Post, 2005-12-11. Retrieved on 2007-03-12.  Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 71st day of the year (72nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 71st day of the year (72nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Further reading

• Ackerman, Bruce and Ian Ayres (February 10, 2004). Voting with Dollars. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-10149-X. 
• Alexander, Herbert E. "Campaign Financing in International Perspective" in Michael J. Malbin, ed. (1980). Parties Interest Groups and Campaign Finance Laws. American Enterprise Institute. ISBN 0-8447-2167-0. 
• Birnbaum, Jeffrey (June 6, 2000). The Money Men : The Real Story of Fund-raising's Influence on Political Power in America. Crown. ISBN 0-8129-3119-X. 
• Clawson, Dan ; Alan Neustadtl; Mark Weller (May, 1998). Dollars and Votes: How Business Campaign Contributions Subvert Democracy. Temple University Press. ISBN 1-56639-626-3. 
• Coate, Steven (2004). Pareto Improving Campaign Finance Policy. American Economic Review. 
• Goodliffe, Jay BYU Syllabus for Money in Politics. Reading List. Retrieved on Fall, 2003. Extensive list of articles on Money in Politics
• Green, Mark (2004). Selling Out: How Big Corporate Money Buys Elections, Rams Through Legislation, and Betrays Our Democracy. Regan Books. ISBN 0-06-073582-1.  New York mayoral candidate who lost to Bloomberg.
• Malbin, Michael J. (March 2006). The Election After Reform: Money, Politics, and the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.. ISBN 0-7425-3870-2. 
• John Samples. The Fallacy of Campaign Finance Reform. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0226734507. 
• Smith, Bradley A. (March 1, 2001). Unfree Speech : The Folly of Campaign Finance Reform. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-07045-8. 
• Talbot, Stephen (Producer). (1992) The Best Campaign Money Can Buy [TV-Series]. United States: Frontline (PBS Video); Center for Investigative Reporting.
• Ward, Gene. Transparency in Money in Politics: A Comparison of the United States and Canada.  PDF
• Vanberg, Christoph (2005). "One Man, One Dollar?" Examining the equalization argument in support of campaign contribution limits. MPI. 

Autumn colours at Westonbirt Arboretum, Gloucestershire, England. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Center for Competitive Politics
• More on United States campaign law
• Campaign Finance Institute
• Read Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports regarding campaign finance
• NEWSMEAT campaign contribution search engine
• PoliticalMoneyLine
• OpenSecrets
• Campaign Money Search
• The National Institute on Money in State Politics
• Institute for Law and Politics at the University of Minnesota Law School