This post is my contribution to the Institute for Free Speech symposium on the 50th anniversary of Buckley v. Valeo, which is jointly published by IFS and the Volokh Conspiracy blog:
This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of Buckley v. Valeo, the 1976 ruling in which the Supreme Court held that federal laws limiting private parties' expenditures on campaign-related speech violate the First Amendment. Critics blame Buckley for a host of current problems in our political system, such as the disproportionate political influence of wealthy people and the spread of misinformation. Our current political situation does indeed have serious flaws. But a contrary decision would not have averted these developments and would have made things much worse in many respects.
