The Republicans have performed a great service by raising the issue of the Federal Election Commission (FEC). There is also a sense in which the Democrats have performed a service by suffering so visibly from campaign regulation. Examples of this service are presidential candidate Walter Mondale’s difficulties with his delegate committees during the primaries and vice‐presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro’s tribulations in the aftermath of an FEC investigation of her 1978 congressional campaign.
It is now up to others to explain in detail what is wrong with the FEC and the law it enforces. This paper is offered as a contribution to the discussion. Many of its examples are taken from the 1984 campaign.
