SHOUTING DOWN THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE - POLITICAL-PARTIES, POWERFUL PACS, AND CONCERNS ABOUT CORRUPTION

The Federal Election Campaign Act limits the amount of financial suppo rt that political parties may give to candidates for federal office. C larisa Long argues that these restrictions violate political parties' First Amendment rights of speech and association. Because the flow of money in the political process is a proxy for speech, the First Amendm ent requires that political actors have access to at least one unrestr icted avenue of communication. While individuals' and PACs' First Amen dment rights are protected because they may make unrestricted independ ent expenditures, parties do not have this opportunity. Courts have fa iled to protect party speech, rationalizing that the existence of corr uption justifies First Amendment restrictions on political parties but not on other entities. Ms. Long argues that parties have unique polit ical messages, that the corruption rationale is flawed as applied to p arties, and that the harm arising from limiting party speech outweighs the benefits. She contends that reducing the existence of corruption can be accomplished more effectively through means that do not reduce the amount of speech within the political process, and proposes less r estrictive alternatives to the current funding limitations.