Corporate-Pacs

Corporate PAC Explosion: 433 New Corporate PACs Formed in Post-Buckley Era

| Importance: 8/10

Following the Buckley v. Valeo decision, corporations rapidly established Political Action Committees to influence elections. The number of corporate PACs grew from 89 in 1974 to 1,206 by 1980 - a 1,254% increase. This represented a systematic corporate mobilization to capture political influence, …

Corporate America Business Roundtable Chamber of Commerce FEC corporate-pacs campaign-finance systematic-corruption institutional-capture
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Federal Election Commission Begins Operations, Institutionalizing Corporate PAC Framework

| Importance: 8/10

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) commences operations with six commissioners appointed by President Gerald Ford, establishing the regulatory framework that will institutionalize and legitimize the explosion of corporate political action committees following the 1974 FECA amendments. Created as …

Federal Election Commission (FEC) President Gerald Ford fec corporate-pacs campaign-finance regulatory-framework feca
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FECA Amendments Enable Corporate PAC Formation, Triggering 1,600% Growth

| Importance: 9/10

Congress enacts amendments to the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA), legitimizing the role of corporations and business-related groups in federal elections and inadvertently triggering explosive growth in corporate political action committees that fundamentally shifts campaign finance in favor of …

U.S. Congress Federal Election Commission (FEC) campaign-finance corporate-pacs feca powell-memo political-money
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