How we got here · Political money
Why does politics feel bought — and what do the rules actually allow?
Campaign finance, PACs, courts, and dark money
Timeline · newest first
2010Court
Citizens United v. FEC
Supreme Court holds that the government generally cannot ban independent expenditures by corporations and unions. Super PACs and outside spending surge afterward.
Nuance Citizens United did not invent all political money, and it did not legalize direct corporate donations to candidates. Know what it did — and what it didn’t.
2010s→Market
Super PACs and dark money
Independent expenditure groups and nonprofit vehicles grow. Disclosure gaps make “who paid?” harder to answer in real time.
2002Law
McCain–Feingold (BCRA)
Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act restricts soft money and issue-ad timing near elections. Parts will later be struck or narrowed by the Court.
1980s–90sPolicy
Soft money and PAC growth
Party soft money and PACs expand as workarounds. Reform cycles follow scandals; loopholes follow reforms.
1976Court
Buckley v. Valeo
Supreme Court treats campaign spending as speech while upholding some contribution limits. The modern tension between money and democracy is locked in.
What people disagree about
- Whether independent spending can ever be truly “independent” of candidates.
- How much of polarization is caused by money vs. media incentives vs. geographic sorting.
Where we are now
Jump from here into the Power Index — donors, PACs, and the people who sit at both ends of the transaction.
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