Chapter 15
Historical Perspective: Money and politics have gone together in the United States from the beginning. Fraud and corruption were standard practice for most of our history however; buying votes and selling influence were as much a part of America as apple pie to 19th century Americans. Beginning in the early 20th century and continuing today, campaign finance laws have sought to limit the influence money can buy with somewhat mixed success. Check out the following links to better understand the history of campaign finance reform efforts.
http://money.howstuffworks.com/campaign-finance1.htm
http://www.howstuffworks.com/question498.htm
http://www.pbs.org/now/classroom/campaignfinance.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campaign_finance_reform
http://www.campaignfinancesite.org/
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121293380
http://www.nationalreview.com/bench-memos/49564/campaign-finance-law-history-lesson/hans-von-spakovsky