The next US presidential election cycle will see spending by candidates and parties in the billions of dollars, with over $1 billion more spent independently by private interests. Scholars from across social science and law grapple with the effects that these expenditures have on public policy, and on the accountability of policy makers to their constituents. Yet political and legal obstacles interact to make major overhauls of the system difficult and often short-lived. In this conference, experts on the complex interaction between money and politics will gather to present and critique new research, discuss the state of scholarly knowledge on the issue more generally, and debate the political prospects and likely effects of possible reforms.
