Super PAC Man
Critical Analysis
Political action committees (PACs) are organizations that raise and spend money to support candidates and influence elections. PACs can represent industry groups, labor unions, or individual companies. PACs spend money to run advertisements on specific issues or for candidates, finance get-out-the-vote drives, do research on election issues, and more. According to the data from the visual above, what were the total PAC disbursements (spending) on the 2020 election?
According to the data from the visual above, what has happened to Total PAC disbursements (spending) over the past twenty years?
What do you think explains that change in total PAC disbursements over the past twenty years?
How do you think that change in spending has impacted American Democracy.
In the 1970s, the Federal Election Committee (FEC) was created to regulate campaign finance and eliminate financial abuses in political campaigns. The FEC limits the size of political donations and requires reporting of campaign donations and spending. How does a government agency such as the FEC illustrate the interaction between the legislative and executive branches of government?
Several Supreme Court cases in the decades following its establishment limited the FEC’s regulations, often citing political spending as a form of free speech. How do these rulings illustrate the interaction between the federal bureaucracy and the judicial branch?
There are three different kinds of PACs under FEC rules and regulations: traditional, super, or hybrid. The rules for how much money a committee can receive in donations or how these committees operate are different depending on the type. Traditional PACs face both spending and donation limits. They can spend up to $5,000 on a candidate every election, up to $5,000 every year in contributions to other PACs, and up to $15,000 on national party committees. Individuals, other PACs, and corporations can donate up to $5,000 per year to a traditional PAC. Imagine you were CEO, entrepreneur - Born in 1964 - Jeffrey, Jeffrey Bezos and you wanted to influence American elections, what would be the biggest disadvantage of forming a traditional PAC?
Super PACs arose after the 2010 Citizens United v. FEC court decision (one of the 14 required Supreme Court cases), which struck down limits on independent spending. Also known as independent expenditure-only political committees, super PACs cannot directly contribute money to candidates, but can freely spend on political advertisements and independent election-influencing activities. They also do not face donation limits, meaning individuals or corporations can give an unlimited amount of money to super PACs. Let’s say you were Texas junior Senator Ted Cruz and you wanted to get lots of money directly from a Super PACs, what would be the biggest disadvantage of receiving funding from a Super PAC?
Hybrid PACs maintain two separate accounts: one account functions like a traditional PAC with contribution limits, and the other account functions like a super PAC, which only makes independent expenditures. Hybrid PACs were established after the 2012 Carey v. FEC case, which resulted in many traditional and super PACs reclassifying as hybrid PACs. Hybrid PACs are also known as Carey committees, due to the Supreme Court case that helped create them. According to the data from the visual below, what has happened to Hybrid PAC spending over the past three presidential elections?
As of Aug. 31, 2022, PACs have raised $6.15 billion for the current election cycle. By comparison, individual candidates have raised $2.4 billion, 39% of what PACs have raised. Draw a conclusion about the relative power of individual politicians and PACs.
Learning Extension
Learn more about the biggest funders of PACs and the highest spending PACS in 2022.
Action Extension
Enter your zip code or state at Open Secrets and learn more about campaign spending where you live.
