Gabriella Sandoval, Events Liaison and Manager
Among a variety of ways in which political work can be swayed, money is by far one of the most effective tools used to influence decision making. Today, thanks to Supreme Court decisions such as Citizens United v FEC, money dominates U.S. political campaigns to a level not seen in decades.
According to 2023 studies conducted by Pew Research Center, they have found that:
Roughly seven-in-ten Americans (72%) say that there should be limits on the amount of money individuals and organizations can spend on political campaigns.
More than six-in-ten Americans (63%) say that all or most of the people who currently serve as elected officials run for office to make a lot of money.
Around eight-in-ten U.S. adults say the people who donate money to political campaigns have too much influence on decisions made by members of Congress.
First, I must introduce what PACs and super PACs are, which is key to understanding the connection between money and politics.
PACs, known as political action committees, are entities that gather money from members and donate that money directly towards political campaigns which can include ballot initiatives and legislation, but are more commonly used towards candidates. These contributions are used for two specific reasons which is to promote a candidate, and to defeat a candidate. PACs must abide by restrictions that limit the amount of funds that can be sent out towards candidates, party committees, and other PACs.
Unlike PACs, Super PACs are regulated under separate rules. Super PACs allow for unlimited spending towards campaigns, however, super PACs cannot contribute funds directly to candidates or political party committees. Super PACs do however, have the ability to donate through sources like non-profits which make it easy for donors to mask their identity. In return, this raises concern over the ethicalness of undisclosed contributors and how it leads to a lack of transparency.
Super PACs allow wealthy donors to pour unlimited amounts of money into campaigns, which can result in drowning out the voices of ordinary Americans because of the high influence of money on campaigning efforts. When a donor’s identity is not publicly disclosed, this can prevent voters from knowing who’s trying to influence them through these campaigns. This problematic gesture of an “unknown donor identity” is commonly referred through a term called “dark money” which is when the source of funds for a campaign are simply unknown. More interestingly, super PACs have the ability to enable wealthy individuals and special interests to underwrite a candidate’s campaign, raising even more concerns about corrupt activity.
Additionally, here are some fascinating facts about PACs and Super PACs:
Outside spending on 2024 federal elections has hit a record of $4.5 billion, with more than half of that spending coming from groups that do not fully disclose the source of their funding.
The 2024 presidential race is the most expensive U.S. election in history, with a high value of over $2 billion in outside spending.
Elon Musk alone donated $75 million this year to a PAC that supported Donald Trump.
So, it’s no surprise that PACs and super PACs play significant roles in federal election campaigns through raising and spending money to influence elections. There is nothing inherently bad about the use of outside money in politics, however, if not effectively regulated, that money can be used to undermine the integrity of politicians and political processes.