Home > posts > Does Restricting Speech Lead to Better Government? Nope.
January 27th, 2010 12:04 pm
Does Restricting Speech Lead to Better Government? Nope.
Posted by Print

Or at least that’s the conclusion one can take away from a recent New York Times article examining campaign finance reform laws across the globe.

The Times reported:

“There is no evidence that stricter campaign finance rules reduce corruption or raise positive assessments of government,” said Kenneth Mayer, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  “It seems like such an obvious relationship but it has proven impossible to prove.”

The article also notes that Australia imposes no restrictions on the amount of money corporations and individuals can give, yet Australia is hardly a failed state.  In fact, according to the Heritage Foundation, Australians enjoy more economic freedom than Americans.

If the First Amendment doesn’t support opponents of free speech and neither does social science research, where else will they turn? Olbermann?

Comments are closed.