ABSTRACT
Important values are at stake in reforming the system or maintaining the status quo. The prospects for the passage of carefully crafted reform are slight, despite some hopeful signs in the late 1980s. The change in administration in 1989 also gave new emphasis to reform. An additional factor favoring reform is the growing public and media criticism of honoraria for members of Congress. Despite developments that enhance the prospects for serious consideration of reforms in the near future, many other factors constrain the likelihood of reform as well as the shape it will take. Partisanship has been the major stumbling block to campaign finance reform in the past and remains the major obstacle to reform. The prospects for campaign finance reform are paradoxical because of the politics of such reform. Restrictions on Political action committees and modifications of individual contribution limits are the types of incremental reforms which require parties to trade advantages.
