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The Fallacy of Campaign Finance Reform. By John Samples. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006; pp xi + 375. $29.00 cloth.
Like other controversial political issues, the issue of campaign finance reform has become bitterly divided and partisan with a wide gulf separating reformers and deregulators. The opposing sides seldom agree on terminology, facts, or values, let alone how to interpret and evaluate those facts to make policy decisions. John Samples, director of the Cato Institute's Center for Representative Government, sets out to bridge that divide and test the assumptions and evidence of campaign finance reform proponents in The Fallacy of Campaign Finance Reform, but ultimately succeeds only in providing talking points for adherents to his position.
Samples's viewpoint is clear not only in the title of the book but also throughout its pages. Samples argues that "campaign finance reform is a delusion" (280) created by Democrats and other progressives to equalize political influence and balance wealth in all of society. Further, he reasons that regulations on campaign contributions are created by incumbent legislators to give themselves an electoral advantage and that these restrictions limit freedom of expression. These regulations, Samples writes, violate the First Amendment provision that Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech because donating money to a political candidate or organization is a form of expression. According to Samples, regulating money in politics is akin to regulating political speech: "Today no one should exercise his or her First Amendment right to freedom of speech without advice from...