参与一个民主社会不应该是金钱问题, 但事实上，民主已经成为一项代价高昂的冒险. Billions and billions of dollars are spent every election period to pay for the campaigns of those running for office at the local, 国家级和国家级. 不幸的是, injecting money into the electoral process has led to numerous problems from corruption of public officials to influence peddling by those seeking to sway the policy positions of those running for office or those seeking to retain their office. The role of money in American politics has become so dominant that questions are often raised about what really matters in our democratic system — the views and votes of the American people or the money spent to advance special interests.
因为美国的选举制度充斥着金钱, 政治为一大批竞选工作人员买单, 法律顾问, 专业咨询顾问, 民意调查专家, 媒体和网络广告, coast-to-coast travel and all those miscellaneous “extras” such as promotional hats and buttons is so costly that running for public office could not occur without sizeable cash contributions. 例如，2020年总统和国会选举的总成本为14美元.40亿美元，是2016年大选花费的两倍多. 再加2美元.3 billion in campaign related expenditures and the cost to conduct elections (purchasing voting equipment and paying election workers) at the state and local level and it is obvious that democracy does not come cheap in the United States.
支付政治竞选的所有必要费用, 候选人和政党依靠各种小额捐助者, large individual contributions and multi-million-dollar transfers from what are called Political Action Committees (PACs) — corporate, 利益集团或政党相关实体. 在2020年的选举中，小额捐助者(平均提供200美元)向民主党候选人提供了1美元.80亿美元，而共和党人筹集了1亿美元.10亿美元，加起来占竞选捐款的23%. 至于富有的个人捐赠者, 捐款最多的100人是企业高管和商业领袖，每人捐赠了1美元.60亿年. 然后是政治行动委员会, 比如唐纳德·特朗普的“美国优先行动”, 筹集了超过1.5亿美元, 而乔·拜登的“美国优先行动”筹集了超过1亿美元.
The connection between money and American politics has a long history going back to the days of Andrew Jackson and his “Spoils System,在那里，潜在的求职者为得到一份政府工作付出了丰厚的报酬. 在现代, the connection between money and politics was influenced by the Watergate scandal during the Nixon administration. 在1972年尼克松的连任竞选中, 总统再选委员会涉嫌非法筹集资金. 水门ladbrokes立博官网导致国会进行了一系列改革，以控制竞选支出. The 联邦选举委员会 was established to monitor campaign spending and set limits on campaign contributions to federal candidates. 但随着竞选支出改革的每一步推进, there was often a step backward as either court decisions or loopholes in existing laws allowed money to remain a critical ingredient in the electoral process.
The efforts to create a system of campaign financing reform changed dramatically with the 2010 Supreme Court decision Citizens United v. 联邦选举委员会. The decision expanded the amount of campaign contributions from PACs and placed few limits on private money to candidates. 实际上, the Justices stated that campaign contributions by way of personal or corporate checks was a form of free speech protected by the First Amendment. The decisions strengthened the role of PACs in the electoral process and also led to the formation of so-called Dark Money organizations where donor contributions to candidates were allowed without the requirement of revealing the donors. Dark Money organizations are now one of the primary funnels through which contributions are directed to political candidates.
The growing role that money plays in election campaigns and the concerns over the influence of contributions on policy making has led to efforts to remove money from the process of national elections. 在美国，具有改革思想的团体以英国和加拿大等国家为例, which have strict public financing systems including limits on how much a candidate can spend and making advertising on television and other media free or inexpensive. While these measures are reasonable and would lead to lessening the corruption and influence peddling that are found in the American electoral system, 它们不是“美国方式”.“改革措施几乎没有机会限制金钱在政治中的作用, 因为现在有一种根深蒂固的选举组织和程序制度抵制变革. 咨询顾问, 律师, 民意测验专家, 媒体, and advertisers are so connected to campaigns and make enormous amounts of money for their services that reform would be next to impossible. Candidates for office and incumbents often quietly complain that they are tired of the constant efforts to raise money by traveling to dinners and other events to glad hand potential donors, but without these fundraising rituals politicians will likely face a cash shortage that will weaken their chances for winning the election. And so political leaders continue to cozy up to the rich and the special interests as they seek dollars for their campaigns to remain in office.
There is now a great deal of commentary in the media and academia about the state of democracy in our country and the threats from those who would weaken the ability of citizens to freely and fairly elect the political leaders to run the government. While casting ballots in elections is often viewed as the foundation of democratic practice and the source of political power, financial contributions to campaigns and politicians must be viewed as the critical ingredients in the electoral process. 正如一句古老的谚语所说, “money talks” and those who provide the money have extraordinary influence on who wins elections and ultimately the policy process. 投票仍然很重要，能够影响选民的政治家可以赢得公职并控制权力杠杆. But it is those who provide the financial means for the politician to win that have the most valuable tool of influence — access to the centers of government and with that access the ability to define policy outcomes. 对选民来说，他们的权力在投票箱里, 而是对那些做出经济贡献的人, 特别是可观的财政捐助, 正是他们在指导公共政策和国家方面具有长期优势.