Undermining Democracy: Michigan's Failure to Limit Contributions to PACs
Publication Date: February 2004
Publisher: PIRGIM Education Fund
Author(s): Elizabeth Ridlington; Brian Imus
Research Area: Politics
Keywords: Campaign contributions; campaign finance reform
Type: Report
Coverage: Michigan
Abstract:
Michigan's campaign finance laws allow citizens to make large donations to individual candidates and unlimited contributions to political action committees (PACs), undermining the ability of ordinary citizens to be heard in the political process. The absence of limits on giving to PACs distorts what should be a tool through which ordinary citizens can aggregate their political power into just another route for wealthy citizens to use money to influence elections. An analysis of data from the 2002 election cycle shows that some Michigan PACs are dominated by a few wealthy individuals who made contributions far greater than those feasible for citizens of average means.
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