Baker, Paula, ed.; Money and Politics

Julian E. Zelizer provides an insightful analysis of the process that culminated in the 1970s reforms. In "Seeds of Cynicism: The Struggle over Campaign Finance, 1956-1974," he addresses both "how campaign finance reform passed" and "why reform failed to end public distrust...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Perspectives on Political Science 2003, Vol.32 (2), p.102
Main Author: Davis, Frank L
Format: Review
Language:English
Subjects:
Finance
Finance Reform
Government
Government Employees
Literature
Money markets
Policy making
Politics
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Julian E. Zelizer provides an insightful analysis of the process that culminated in the 1970s reforms. In "Seeds of Cynicism: The Struggle over Campaign Finance, 1956-1974," he addresses both "how campaign finance reform passed" and "why reform failed to end public distrust of campaigns" (74). Zelizer sees Watergate as only one of a number of factors leading to reform. Others included formation of a reform coalition for which campaign finance was but one in a list of issues, the escalating costs of campaigns, "evolving financial condition of the parties" (74), and the new adversarial approach of the media. Public revulsion at Watergate allowed the reform coalition aided by adversarial media to push reform on a less-resistant Congress.
ISSN:1045-7097
1930-5478