Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002

Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA), U.S. legislation that was the first major amendment of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA) since the extensive 1974 amendments that followed the Watergate scandal.

The primary purpose of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) was to eliminate the increased use of so-called soft money to fund advertising by political parties on behalf of their candidates. Prior to the law’s enactment, money was considered “hard” if it was raised in accordance with the limits concerning sources and amounts specified by FECA as amended in 1974. For example, individual contributions were limited to $1,000 per federal candidate (or candidate committee) per election, and contributions by corporations and unions were prohibited (a ban that had been in effect since the early 20th century). However, state campaign finance rules differed from federal rules, as states allowed corporations and unions to donate to state parties and candidates in large, sometimes unlimited, amounts. Such soft-money contributions could then be funneled to federal candidates and national party committees, thus circumventing the FECA limits. That practice was particularly apparent in the U.S. presidential elections of 1996 and 2000.

Provisions

The BCRA attacked those loopholes in several ways. First, it raised the amounts of permitted, lawful “hard money” contributions by individuals from $1,000 per candidate per election, where it had remained since 1974, to $2,000 per candidate per election (primary and general elections were counted separately, so $4,000 per election cycle was allowed) and provided for future adjustments in accordance with inflation. It also increased FECA’s limits on aggregate contributions (per election cycle) by individuals to multiple candidates and party committees.

Discover how ordinary objects work, and expand your understanding of the familiar.

SIGN UP

" height="20" alt="HEW Logo">

Thank you for signing up!"

Back to homepage

By clicking "Sign Up", you consent to the Britannica Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

Second, the BCRA provided, with limited exceptions, that federal candidates, parties, officeholders, and their agents could not solicit, receive, or direct soft money to another person or organization or raise or spend any money not subject to FECA limits. That provision was intended to prevent the national parties from raising money and then directing it to others in order to avoid federal limits. Accordingly, parties were prohibited from donating funds to so-called tax-exempt “527” groups, named after a provision of the Internal Revenue Code. In addition, any funds spent on “federal election activity” as defined in the BCRA were required to be raised in accordance with FECA limits. Federal election activity included any activity within 120 days of an election in which a federal candidate is on the ballot, including get-out-the-vote activity, generic campaign activity, and public communications that refer to a clearly identified federal candidate and that support or oppose a candidate for office. The new rule reversed the former practice of allowing parties to allocate generic expenses between hard and soft money depending on the number of state candidates versus federal candidates on the ballot. Now, if a federal candidate were on the ballot, all the money spent on that candidate’s behalf (with only a few exceptions) would need to be hard money raised in accordance with FECA limits.

Third, the BCRA prohibited “electioneering communications” (political advertisements) by corporations and unions in an effort to halt the corporate and union practice of airing advertisements that were intended to influence federal elections but stopped short of express advocacy—i.e., urging the audience to vote for or against a specific federal candidate. Advertisements met the definition of “electioneering communications” in the BCRA if they (1) referred to a clearly identified federal candidate, (2) were made within 60 days of a general election or 30 days of a primary election, and (3) were targeted to the electorate of a federal candidate (except presidential and vice presidential candidates, for whom the whole country is the electorate).

The “millionaire’s amendment”

The so-called millionaire’s amendment provision of the BCRA allowed candidates whose opponents spent more than a certain amount of their own money (as determined by a complex formula) to accept contributions in excess of the FECA limits. Thus, in the Illinois 2004 Democratic senatorial primary (for an open seat with no incumbent), Barack Obama faced a wealthy opponent, Blair Hull, who spent $29 million of his own money. Because of the millionaire’s amendment, Obama (the eventual winner) was able to raise $3 million in contributions larger than $2,000 (more than one-third of his total campaign fund), whereas he could have raised only $960,000 from the same donors under the normal limits.

Some provisions of the BCRA were eventually struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in various rulings. In McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission (2014), for example, the court invalidated aggregate limits on contributions by individuals to multiple candidates or party committees; in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010) it threw out limits on expenditures by corporations or unions for independent electioneering communications; and in Davis v. Federal Election Commission (2008) it rejected the millionaire’s amendment.

Explore Britannica Premium!

The trusted destination for professionals, college students, and lifelong learners.

SUBSCRIBE