Potential Topic for Paper Four

The Supreme Court ruling in January of 2010 repealed the McCain-Feingold Law, which restricted corporate funding in political campaigns. The result of this ruling may have significant impact on campaign process. Those in support of this argument have argued that the first amendment prohibits governmental regulation of “free political speech.” Those who oppose the ruling, argued that by allowing corporations to “flood the political marketplace, it would corrupt democracy.”  Each of these arguments relies on certain assumptions. When the Supreme Court ruled on this decision it gave an explicit interpretation of the first amendment. If corporations have the same rights as individuals then the first amendments right to the freedom of speech in elections applies to them. If corporations are not legally “individuals” then the first amendment, which is the basis for the argument, is irrelevant. Therefore, the underlying issue is whether or not corporations are individuals. Conversely, the latter argument says that by allowing corporations to contribute limitlessly towards campaigns and advertisements, big business will not only control the media with biased advertisements but also “undermine the influence of small contributions made by average Americans who are supporting their preferred candidate.” {Barack Obama} Many fear that this will put a higher price tag on campaigning, which is already an extremely expensive endeavor. In addition, many fear that politicians will issue favorable legislation to organizations that helped fund their campaigns, but this is pure speculation. Basically dissenters argue, because corporate funding in elections is not restricted, our democracy will be corrupted.  This would force us to define democracy and how and to what extent it is corrupted. Although, I personally disagree with this Supreme Court ruling I can understand issues on both sides. In my paper I would write it as if I was appealing to the Supreme Court to decide against the ruling that was ultimately decided upon.