Growth of Government

Established: October 15, 1974

Mission: To protect the integrity of the federal campaign finance process by providing transparency and fairly enforcing and administering federal campaign finance laws.

Reason for creation: The Federal Election Commission was created after a long history of efforts to limit the influence of money in politics. Such concerns date back at least to Andrew Jackson, who is credited with creating the spoils system of political patronage. Jackson promised positions of influence in his government to individuals and businesses who supported him during his campaign. He was also the first candidate to raise a substantial sum of money to fund his campaign – much of it from his loyal civil servants. The system of patronage continued without meaningful challenges until an 1867 Naval Appropriations Bill made it illegal for government officials to solicit political donations from naval yard workers.

Congress continued to tinker with election reform over the next 100 years, passing at least nine pieces of significant legislation before passing the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) in 1971 and its 1974 amendments that created the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) as an independent agency responsible for administering and enforcing campaign finance laws, including public financing of presidential elections.

Impacts: One of the FEC’s first actions (in 1976) was to start auditing all presidential campaigns which received public campaign funds. Then, in 1979, the agency required that all presidential candidates must submit personal financial information to the FEC. In addition to promoting general transparency, these requirements allow the FEC to identify potential conflicts of interest and illegal financial actions on the part of the candidate. These provisions do not require candidates to make public their personal tax returns, although many candidates voluntarily submit them for public scrutiny.

In general, however, the FEC has been limited in its efforts by new legislation and the courts. In 1979, additional amendments to FECA created a loophole in reform efforts for what is now known as “soft money” – funding that flows to party building rather than directly to a campaign. This end-around previous legislation once again allowed corporations and unions to donate unlimited amounts.

Decisions in two court cases, Buckley v. Valeo in 1976 and Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission in 2010, undermined the laws that the FEC was created to enforce. The decision in Citizens United, in fact, has led to an unprecedented inflow of money into election campaigns.