Breaking Free With Fair Elections
3/27/2007
Executive Summary
Fair
Elections – systems with full public financing of elections – would
help improve the openness, honesty, and accountability of government.
They would also free public officials to respond to the interests of
voters without worrying about hurting their ability to raise money from
deep-pocketed donors.Most observers would agree that money plays
far too large a role in elections – and that politicians spend too much
time fundraising, detracting from the time they spend developing good
public policy. If we want to protect the environment, design a
better health care system or improve our energy policy, we need a
political system that encourages lawmakers to listen more to voters
than to oil and gas companies, pharmaceutical giants and other
industries.
Fair Elections are a bold solution to the problem of
money in politics. Three states – Maine, Connecticut and Arizona – have
instituted the systems for statewide and legislative elections.
Publicly financed elections for some public offices, including
judgeships, exist in four additional states, and the solution has been
implemented in two major cities. Other states, such as Maryland, are
actively considering similar proposals for their state elections.
The
systems work. Public funding systems in the states today draw rave
reviews from lawmakers while producing more diverse fields of
candidates. They also provide voters with immediate return on their
small investment of faith and money: lawmakers who run under the
systems spend significantly less time raising money than those who do
not, giving them more time to do the work of the people. This
momentum is now spreading to Washington. Bills have been introduced in
the House and Senate to provide full public financing for congressional
elections. The proposed congressional systems and those in
effect in the states are variations on a theme. They require that
candidates agree to accept little private money and to abide by
spending limits. In exchange, candidates with demonstrated support qualify for enough public money to run viable campaigns. The
systems are sensible. They are entirely voluntary and impose no new
restrictions on the campaign fundraising or spending of those who do
not participate. And they transform elections into true contests of
ideas and merit, rather than fundraising prowess. The cost of a
full congressional Fair Elections system would be tiny in the scope of
the overall federal budget, which is nearing $3 trillion. And the
program would accrue enormous savings by reducing wasteful
expenditures, such as earmarks arranged by lobbyists. Democratic,
Republican and independent voters all support Fair Elections. Nearly 75
percent of respondents – including 80 percent of Democrats and 65
percent of Republicans – said in a mid-2006 poll that they supported a
voluntary public funding system. Meanwhile, public approval of Congress plunged to historic depths. Implementing
a public funding system for Congress would make elections more open and
empower voters. Americans are clamoring for a change – one that puts
them in charge.
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