This book, provided by the Brookings Institution, "combines reprints of key documents shaping the statutory and administrative framework for campaign finance regulation with original essays that guide readers over an exceedingly complex legal terrain." It discusses the history and current state of campaign finance law, constitutional restrictions, political action committees, soft money, issue...

As Joe Manchin, the Democratic Senator from West Virginia, so aptly stated in early 2013, "Something has gone terribly wrong when the biggest threat to our American economy is the American Congress." In fact, it is not hyperbole to wonder if the 112th Congress is the most dysfunctional Congress in history. The question Sarah Binder takes on in this report for the Brookings Institution is: How...