Publication

This paper discusses the controversial practice of providing public funding to Presidential candidates and parties in the US. Since 1976, the availability of funds is determined by a voluntary tax checkoff. Presidential election public funding is by no means a universally supported program, as reflected in declining taxpayer checkoffs and periodic calls for the program’s abolition. Concerns that structural problems have greatly eroded the system’s value have led to recent calls for major amendments to bolster it. The author concludes that such concerns and continued controversies suggest that the future of presidential public funding is not assured and that Congress may revisit the issue.