BIG MONEY UNLEASHED

SOUTHWORTH, ANN

ISBN 10: 022683073X / ISBN 13: 9780226830735

Published by University of Chicago Press, 2024

About this Item

Seller Inventory # NW9780226830735

Bibliographic Details

• Title: BIG MONEY UNLEASHED
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication Date: 2024
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 022683073X
• ISBN 13: 9780226830735
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: NEW

About this title

Synopsis

The story of how the First Amendment became an obstacle to campaign finance regulation—a history that began much earlier than most imagine.

Americans across party lines believe that public policy is rigged in favor of those who wield big money in elections. Yet, legislators are restricted in addressing these concerns by a series of Supreme Court decisions finding that campaign finance regulations violate the First Amendment.

Big Money Unleashed argues that our current impasse is the result of a long-term process involving many players. Naturally, the justices played critical roles—but so did the attorneys who hatched the theories necessary to support the legal doctrine, the legal advocacy groups that advanced those arguments, the wealthy patrons who financed these efforts, and the networks through which they coordinated strategy and held the Court accountable.

Drawing from interviews, public records, and archival materials, Big Money Unleashed chronicles how these players borrowed a litigation strategy pioneered by the NAACP to dismantle racial segregation and used it to advance a very different type of cause.

About the Author

Ann Southworth is professor of law and codirector of the Center for Empirical Research on the Legal Profession at the University of California, Irvine.