For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office SENATE SELECT COMMITTEE ON PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES (Established by S. Res. 60, 93d Congress, 1st Session) SAM J. ERVIN, JR., North Carolina, Chairman HERMAN E. TALMADGE, Georgia EDWARD J. GURNEY, Florida SAMUEL DASH, Chief Counsel and Staff Director ARTHUR S. MILLER, Chief Consultant (II) INTRODUCTION Election Reform: Basic References has been compiled to provide the Select Committee with background studies and documents on campaign and election reform. It is an effort to capture the thinking on the issue just prior to the impact of the Watergate investigation, and is therefore intended not only as a reference source but also as a reference point. For a quick scan of legislation and opinions about election reform, the reader can use the abstracted table of contents, which underscores recurring concepts. The chronology on page 1 will also help place important events in perspective. The compilation is divided into three sections. The first section covers general references, especially to current legislative proposals. The second is devoted to campaign finance reform, and is by far the largest section, reflecting the historical emphasis on attempts to solve the problem of "money in politics." The third section contains the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (the law now in force and subject of many of the articles in this compilation), related documentation, and a bibliography on campaign finance. The Select Committee is grateful to John C. Etridge, staff investigator, for editing this compilation.* SAM J. ERVIN, Jr., Chairman. *The editor also wishes to express gratitude to Oliver Orr, Manuscripts Division of the Library of Congress; Elizabeth Yadlosky, Joseph Gorman, Frederick Pauls, Marc Yacker, David Huckabee, Susan Finsen, Josephus Nelson, Virginia Graham, William Gibbons, Marjorie Browne, and Doris Lasley, of the Congressional Research Service; Dennis Summers, Select Committee Assistant Counsel; John Walz and Michael Flanigan of the Government Printing Office; and Mark Abbott, editorial adviser, for their advice and assistance in the formulation and execution of this project. Page III Introduction.. Major Events in the History of Federal Campaign Reform___ A concise chronological overview. Financing Presidential Campaigns. Report of President Kennedy's Commission on Cam- This April 1962 document reports ways to improve Presidential campaign financing; to increase public confidence in campaign financing; and to instill respect for the system of legal regulation of campaign financing. Contains 12 recommenda- Campaign Financing and Political Freedom. by Ralph K. Winter, Jr., and John R. Bolton This report considers the relationship of private campaign contributions to the democratic proc- ess. The work concludes that private financing is an aspect of personal freedom which contributes to both the stability and responsiveness of the American political system. It thus argues that limitations on candidate spending or on individual contributions to candidates and the public. |