Evaluating Campaign Finance Oversight: An Assessment of the Federal Election Commission

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is the primary agency enforcing campaign finance laws in the US, and it has long been portrayed as a toothless tiger. Given the importance of campaign finance laws in protecting democracy, the characterization of the FEC as an ineffective regulator is problematic. To understand why the agency has a weak reputation, this book explores changes in campaign finance laws, the underfunding of the agency, untimely commissioner appointments, and how this has affected the enforcement of campaign finance laws between 2002 and 2020. This study finds that as campaign finance laws have weakened in the US, so has the FEC’s ability to enforce them. The agency’s resources have stagnated, so the penalties and fines issued by the agency have dropped. There are multiple periods when the agency is absent a quorum because of too few commissioners at the Commission, and it is increasingly unable to proceed with agency business. Furthermore, the empty commissioner seats have led to a partisan imbalance that has favored the Republicans and allowed them to dominate decision-making. Now, the outcomes of allegations of wrongdoing are increasingly closing by default rather than bipartisan consensus.

Karen Denice Sebold is an assistant professor at the University of Arkansas.