The Brennan Center’s Money in Politics Empirical Evidence Database is a comprehensive resource for reformers, litigators, legislators, journalists, and scholars seeking social science and other fact-based research relevant to the key legal issues of campaign finance. The database categorizes and describes the findings of sources in eight major areas: super PACs and political spending, public financing laws and trigger laws, contribution limits, disclosure, corporate and union spending, incumbency and electoral competitiveness, policy outcomes and representation, and public disclosure and pre-election debate. We accessed many of these studies via the Campaign Finance Institute’s extensive bibliography of money in politics scholarship, a valuable resource in our effort to create a repository of research tailored to address the major legal questions in the field. Search the entire database by following the instructions below, or use the category buttons to view findings by topic.

For an in-depth explanation of the legal significance of the research we have compiled, see our paper, Developing Empirical Evidence for Campaign Finance Cases. In it we identify the key factual conclusions associated with the governing Supreme Court campaign finance cases, discuss in detail the research catalogued in the database, and suggest further studies to test the legal limits that currently constrain the reasonable regulation of money in our political process.

 

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