Political Science
Who pays for populism?
Document Type
Book Chapter
Abstract
This chapter describes the ways in which changes in American campaign finance since 2010 have worked to the advantage of a subset of “populist billionaires.” The donors who have been advantaged by the deregulation of American campaign finance law are individuals whose sources of wealth make them less accountable to the public and less dependent on conventional forms of political access than past donors. The chapter draws upon recent research on the political attitudes and activities of the very wealthy in American politics, and it compares political spenders in recent elections to those active in elections of past decades. It closes with some thoughts on the normative consequences of these changes and their relationship to political corruption.
Publication Title
Populism and Corruption: The Other Side of the Coin
Publication Date
2021
First Page
243
Last Page
268
ISBN
9781839109676
DOI
10.4337/9781839109676
Keywords
American campaign finance, populist billionaires, American politics
Repository Citation
Boatright, Robert G., "Who pays for populism?" (2021). Political Science. 41.
https://commons.clarku.edu/faculty_political_science/41
