Two of the biggest priorities at Common Cause are media reform and campaign finance reform. Contrary to what many people think, these two issues do not exist in a vacuum; rather, problems in each field have direct implications on problems in the other. Moreover, improvements in both campaign finance and media would have beneficial ripple effects in a host of areas.
For those of you interested in learning more about the close relationship between the media, campaign finance, and the general national conversation, Timothy A. Canova, a dean at Chapman University School of Law, has written an in-depth article that will be published in the forthcoming Nexus Journal.
In "Campaign Finance, Iron Triangles & The Decline of American Political Discourse," Dean Canova provides a readable account of the manner in which the shortcomings in campaign finance and the media contribute to shortcomings in a host of other areas, such as public schools, healthcare, and corporate governance.
To read the article, click here and download it. Below is from the abstract:
The Constitution protects the rights of Americans to participate in politics through assembly and membership in private interest groups. Yet the Founders recognized that interest groups and factions posed a particular danger in a democracy
The capture of federal communications policy by self-interested media companies has reduced the range and level of political discourse, and effectively privatized the public commons. A review of early American history of postal rate subsidies for newspapers provides support for present-day proposals to mandate free air time for political candidates across broadcast, cable and satellite mediums. Without reform of communications policy, the campaign finance system will continue to contribute to a public and political discourse devoid of meaning.
