The Two Trends that Matter for Party Politics

16 Pages Posted: 31 Oct 2014

See all articles by Joseph Fishkin

Joseph Fishkin

UCLA Law School

Heather Gerken

Yale University - Law School

Date Written: October 16, 2014

Abstract

In this essay, Professors Fishkin and Gerken argue that the Supreme Court’s deregulation of the campaign-finance system is fueling a shift toward "shadow parties" -- groups that are separate from the formal party apparatus but run by party insiders and central to the workings of the party writ large. They argue that the roots of this trend are to be found, paradoxically, not in the two parties’ weakness but in their strength. Contrary to the emerging conventional wisdom in the field, the authors suggest that the Court’s 2014 decision in McCutcheon v. FEC will do little to arrest this trend. The essay closes with a brief exploration of the trend’s normative implications. This essay is a version of a talk presented at the 2014 Brennan Center Convening, Money in Politics 2030: Toward a New Jurisprudence.

Note: This essay is a version of a talk presented at the 2014 Brennan Center Convening, Money in Politics 2030: Toward a New Jurisprudence.

Keywords: shadow parties, campaign finance, polarization, campaign spending, McCutcheon, McCutcheon v. FEC

Suggested Citation

Fishkin, Joseph and Gerken, Heather, The Two Trends that Matter for Party Politics (October 16, 2014). 89 NYU Law Review Online 32 (2014), Yale Law School, Public Law Research Paper No. 524, U of Texas Law, Public Law Research Paper No. 621, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2517188

Heather Gerken

Yale University - Law School ( email )

P.O. Box 208215
New Haven, CT 06520-8215
United States

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