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Presidential Financing

New CFI Working Paper

Small Donors, Large Donors and the Internet:
The Case for Public Financing after Obama

Release | Working Paper | Join the Discussion

“The public funding system for presidential elections collapsed in 2008. The policy question for the future will be whether to revive it at all and, if so, how.” So begins this working paper by CFI’s Executive Director, Michael J. Malbin, who is also a professor of political science at the University at Albany, SUNY. In the paper, Malbin documents the failures of spending limits and argues that the system needs a redesign to promote competition, candidate emergence and public participation. He discusses potential public funding proposals aiming to do that. The paper also presents new data about the timing of small and large donors in the election of 2008. (April 22, 2009)

See Previous Presidential reports here.

Financing 2008

Congressional Elections
A First Post-Election Look at Money in the House and Senate Elections (11/06)

Cost of Winning a House Election 1998-2008 (through mid-October in millions of dollars)


Historical Congressional Statistics, 1978-2006

Interest Groups / Soft Money


Senate Electronic Disclosure
The Senate Campaign Disclosure Disparity Act (S. 482) would require Senate candidates to file their campaign finance reports electronically. Read More

The Future Agenda

Rethinking the Campaign Finance Agenda by Michael J. Malbin (April, 2008)

CFI's Small Donor Project

Small Donors, Large Donors and the Internet: Rethinking Public Financing for Presidential Elections After Obama (4/21/09)

Rethinking Public Financing in New York (6/4/09) Michael Malbin's presentation at a Rockefeller Institute of Government Forum. (Albany, NY)

Malbin Testifies in Illinois on Contribution Limits and Small Donor Participation (3/17/09)

Do Small Donors Improve Representation? Some Answers from Recent Gubernatorial and State Legislative Elections (August 2008 APSA paper)

Ups and Downs of Small Donors: An Analysis of Pre- and Post-BCRA Contributions to Federal Candidates and Parties, 1999-2006

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