When Purists Prevail

Just published: When Purists Prevail by Raymond La Raja and Brian Schaffner.

The authors find that campaign finance reform that focuses on the corrupting influence of big donors also unintentionally favors candidates with extreme ideological agendas.

The solution is to channel campaign contributions through party organizations—rather than directly to candidates—because these organizations tend to be less ideological than the activists who now provide the lion’s share of money to political candidates. Shifting campaign finance to parties would ease polarization by reducing the influence of “purist” donors with their rigid policy stances.