The National Conference of State Legislatures has called campaign finance disclosure the most basic form of campaign finance regulation and further notes that “[a]ll states require some level of disclosure from candidates, committees, and political parties of the amount and source of contributions and expenditures.” One function of campaign finance disclosure is to prevent corruption in candidate elections. The manner in which disclosure may deter corruption is not difficult to imagine. For example, disclosure reports may be examined by investigative journalists and opposition researchers looking for evidence of unsavory relationships between contributors and candidates. Further, disclosure of contributions to candidates may facilitate the enforcement of contribution limits in candidate elections. After all, it would be difficult to know whether a contribution limit has been violated without some accounting of how much contributors have given to candidates.

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Suggested citation: Carpenter, D., & Milyo, J. (2012). The public’s right to know versus compelled speech: What does social science research tell us about the benefits and costs of campaign finance disclosure in non-candidate elections? Fordham Urban Law Journal, 40(2), 603–637. https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2480&context=ulj