Sophie Ghoneim

1. The three obstacles listed below have made it difficult for Congress to enact significant campaign finance reform. a. Buckley v. Valeo (1976) b. Soft money c. Incumbency Select two of the obstacles. For each obstacle, provide both of the following. a. A brief description of the obstacle b. An explanation of how the obstacle has made it difficult for Congress to enact significant campaign finance reform
b. Soft Money is a loop hole in F.E.R.A. Money is donated by larger corporations to a specific party, and not a candidate. This makes it difficult for Congress to enact campaign finance reform because it cannot be proven that the corporations are donating for the benefit of a certain candidate. The federal election reform act limits the amount of individual contributions a president can accept if they accept full funding for their campaign, however through soft money, presidents can get around this by arguing that money was donated to the party. Also, through 527 groups, presidential candidates can get expensive political advertisements out that are sponsored by corporations and not affiliated with a candidate or party though the corporations have paid in full for these campaign ads. a. Buckley v. Valeo was a court case that ruled a portion of the F.E.R.A unconstitutional that presidents couldnt be limited to how much of their own money they could spend whilst campaigning. This hinders Congress because the case ruled that forcing presidents to limit their personal funds was a violation of the 1st amendment to freedom of speech. If candidates want to spend their money to get their opinion out, Congress is not allowed to place a limitation on this. Even presidents who accept federal funding for campaigning can now spend unlimited amounts of personal money and therefore, richer candidates have an advantage they wont be denied federal funding OR have any limits placed upon personal funds.

2. The concept of divided government in the United States means that one political party can control the executive branch while another controls the legislative branch. This poses problems for the President in making appointments to federal offices. a. Describe two problems that divided government poses for the President in making federal appointments. b. Identify and explain two ways presidents try to overcome the problems described in (a). 2002
a. When the president makes his federal appointments, he looks for people that will assist him in getting his goals accomplished and that will be an asset to his cabinet, Congress, or the judicial branch. When there is a divided government, however, if Congress does not approve presidential appointments, he must look for a new person to take the position. Congress might not approve an appointment made that would assist the president in accomplishing goals that are not supported by the other party (ex. Obama establishing the Health Care Reform Act and how the Republican party feels about this). There is

Sophie Ghoneim greater length in the process of appointing people for positions and lesser regard for the qualifications of a presidential appointment if Congress does not agree with the viewpoints or goals of the person. Divided government makes it significantly harder for the president to accomplish or get things done if both parties are not in favor, especially with the checks and balances of the executive and legislative branches. b. A president could try to balance the number of officials from each party to please Congress instead of turning the tables obviously in their favor. They could also appeal to special interest groups in Congress that would agree with their side or appointments.