Campaign Finance Reform Quiz
Matching – put the definition that best describes the concept
1.Political Action Committees (PACs) ______
2. Buckley v. Valeo, ________
3. McConnell, Mitch, et al. v. Federal Election Commission________
4. Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 also known as the McCainFeingold Bill_________
5. “Soft” money_________
6. “Hard” money ____________
A. Political contributions that are restricted by election laws.
B. Landmark Supreme Court case involving the constitutionality of the
Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended in 1974. While the
Court upheld limits on contributions to candidates for federal office, it
ruled that overall limits on spending by federal candidates and their
committees violated the First Amendment.
C. Unregulated contributions to political parties that are theoretically spent
on “party-building activities”, such as “issue ads” and “get out the vote”
campaigns. Such spending is often called a major loophole in federal
campaign spending law.
D. Organizations established by businesses, labor unions, and interest
groups to channel financial contributions into political campaigns
E. Advertisements that purport to inform citizens about political issues.
Critics claim that such ads - paid for with unregulated funds - are used to
influence the outcome of elections.
F. The law passed on March 27, 2002, places new restrictions on soft
money and issue ads.
G. An combination of 11 suits argued that the BCRA limits First
Amendment rights. In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court upheld the BCRA
on the key issues of banning “soft-money” contributions and limiting
“issue ads.”