ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the rules of campaign finance and tried to demystify how various contribution limits and reporting requirements apply to various people and groups. It examines selected elements of law, policy, and politics to provide a broad overview of how and why major provisions of the federal campaign finance system arose and, in particular, what changed about that system beginning in 2010. The chapter emphasizes the public policy surrounding federal campaign finance. It explores not only the law, but also the regulations and other guidance from the Federal Election Commission (FEC), the federal agency responsible for administering most campaign finance law. The chapter considers how major policy changes shaped the environment that candidates for Congress and the presidency face. The chapter utilizes the term "traditional Political Action Committee (PAC)" to refer to those PACs permitted to make contributions to federal candidates.
