The topic of campaign finance reform is a hot-button issue before nearly every modern Congress. In class, we have discussed a variety of potential solutions to the purported problem of campaign finance abuse--McCain-Feingold, the Citizen’s Research Foundation, and James Carville have all provided differing perspectives as to how the system can be repaired.

For this paper, you must make an argument for one of these proposals or generate your own proposal for reforming the campaign finance system. Why does one proposal seem to better mend the system than the others? What sort of potential loopholes might still exist in your favored proposal and how do these loopholes compare to the other proposals discussed in class? Does your preferred reform proposal favor the parties, interest groups, members of Congress, or the American public?

When writing this paper, justify your choices, clearly articulate an argument in favor of your preferred proposal, and demonstrate that you have carefully thought through the issues associated with choosing one proposal over another.

---

---

How to Properly Cite Sources

Books:

• Last Name, First Name [and coauthor first name, last name]. Date of publication. Book Title. City of Publisher: Publisher.
  Examples:
  Single Author
  Aldrich, John. 1995. Why Parties? Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
  Multiple Authors
  Brehm, John and Scott Gates. 1999. Working, Shirking, and Sabotage. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
  Book Chapters
  Herrnson, Paul. 1997. "Money and Motives: Spending in House Elections." in Lawrence Dodd and Bruce Oppenheimer, eds., Congress Reconsidered. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly.

Journal Articles:

• Last Name, First Name [and coauthor first name, last name]. Date of publication. "Article Title." Journal Title Volume #: Page Numbers.
  Example:
  Hansen, John Mark. 1985. "The Political Economy of Group Membership." American Political Science Review 79: 79-96.

Web Sites:

• Author of content (if any). Date accessed. "Title of page." Website. Page address.
  Examples:
  Jehl, Douglas. December 21, 2000. "New Rules to Cut Diesel Emissions." New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/21/politics/21FUEL.html
  Greenpeace. December 21, 2000. "Russian Parliament Votes to Become the World's Nuclear Dump Site." Greenpeace. http://www.greenpeace.org/~nuclear