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Equal
Justice Society e-Newsletter - Issue 2 - Fall 2004
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| SUBSCRIBE Getting this forwarded from a friend? Subscribe to get our newsletter delivered directly to you! IN THIS ISSUE Eva Paterson: Vote as If Your Life Depended On It! Stanford Law Review Study on Affirmative Action in Law Schools Marred by Questionable Data EJS in Hawai'i: Praxis and Pono Notes on the Right: Voter Participation and the Right Civil Rights and Campaign Finance: Summaries of Key Law Review Articles Preserving Access at the University of California Become a Part of the Equal Justice Society
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Civil
Rights and Campaign Finance:
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2.
Terry Smith, Race and Money In Politics, 79 N.C.
L. Rev. 1469 (2001). The article demonstrates
a link between race and money in politics and contends that
meaningful campaign finance reform can only be achieved by considering
race. “[D]espite the interest of some reformers in ‘see[ing] wealth stand alone as a classification,’ the bridge that
they . . . have attempted to construct between antisubordination
and money in politics could ultimately prove too narrow a passage
unless the political realities of race are central to its creation.”
According to Professor Smith, race and money enable each other
in the political process. Money is often used to purchase
powerful political messages that divide people along racial
instead of class lines. The article “deconstructs and
then recasts the concept of equality as it is used in the context
of campaign finance reform, taking account
of the race-bound definitions of equality.” The article explores the following questions: [F]irst, are white voters disenfranchised,
and if so, how so? Second, is the political reality of black
voters sufficiently different from that of whites such that
the political equality campaign finance reformers envision might
mean something different for whites than for people of color?
Finally, if white disenfranchisement is different—or even non-existent—and
this difference affects campaign finance reform’s effectiveness
relative to different racial groups, how should we conceptualize
campaign finance reform to make it more inclusive? The article
contends that the equality arguments advanced by campaign finance
reformers are “employed against black political aspirations,
creating an inequality along racial lines which changes the
assumptions and effect of campaign finance reform for voters
of color versus white voters.” Because there
is a baseline differential in equality between whites and people
of color, “greater equality through reform is only possible
if citizens of color are allowed to employ their full expressive
resources in the political process.” The article
assesses the current campaign finance movement though the lens
of race, addressing particularly its principal architects, opponents,
the McCain-Feingold bill, and “probing the extent to which the
debate has essentialized voters notwithstanding the significant differences
created by race.” Professor Smith closes the article by
providing principles regarding race and campaign finance reform,
which, if effectively implemented, may benefit of voters of
color. See also Roger Wilkins
et al., Campaign Finance as a Civil Rights Issue, 43
How. L.J. 41 (1999) (Howard University Law School’s 1999 conference,
“Campaign Finance as a Civil Rights Issue”).
3. Jason P. Conti, The Forgotten Few: Campaign Finance Reform
and its Impact On Minority and Female Candidates,
22 B.C. Third World L.J.
99 (2002). This article describes the effects
that proposed campaign finance reforms would have on minority
and female candidates. The author examines the lack of
racial and gender diversity in elective office, particularly
in Congress. He observes that “the
percentage of minorities and women in Congress is disproportionately
low compared to the overall population; linking the problem
to money, however, is a recent and under-explored area.”
Citing a number of studies, the author observes that challenger
minority candidates have a more difficult
time raising money than white candidates and blacks are less
able to donate to campaigns. “Given that the top-spending
candidate in the 1998 House elections won 95% of the time, candidates
with an inherent disadvantage in raising campaign cash will
have a much more difficult time winning elections.” The
author evaluates proposals for change -- including political
action committees, soft money bans, individual contribution
limits, campaign spending limits, and public financing -- and
explains how each would impact minority and female candidates.
Conti encourages campaign finance reformers both to consider
strongly the concerns of minority and female candidates and
to work toward instituting publicly funded campaigns.
He contends that “[t]he best approach for increasing the number
of women and minorities in politics is to enact a clean election
system similar to that of [1] See Spencer Overton, But Some Are More Equal: Race, Exclusion, and
Campaign Finance,
80 Tex. L. Rev. 987, 1009-1015 (2002). |
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The Equal Justice Society is a national organization of scholars, advocates and concerned individuals advancing innovative legal strategies and public policy for enduring social change. We generate critical analysis on issues of race and social justice through research, public education and bringing together individuals from diverse backgrounds and disciplines. Our goal is to reshape jurisprudence to ensure that the rights of all are expanded, rather than diminished, by our courts and policy makers. Equal Justice Society, 220 Sansome St, 14th Flr, San Francisco, CA 94104, Ph (415) 288-8700 |