50 years ago, the Supreme Court broke campaign finance regulation

A gobsmacking amount of money is spent on federal elections in the US. The credit or blame for that reaches back to a landmark, 50-year-old Supreme Court decision.

By: John J. Martin, Quinnipiac University, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: February 24, 2026

Words: 1,579

Last Updated: 2 weeks, 2 days ago

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By John J. Martin, Quinnipiac University

In 2024, spending on federal elections totaled almost US$15 billion in the United States. The United Kingdom, in contrast, spent approximately $129 million on its 2024 parliamentary elections – less than 1% of 2024 U.S. spending – despite having a population one-fifth the size of the U.S.

Indeed, most other democratic countries spend only a fraction of what the U.S. does on their respective elections.

Why …

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