On December 10, 2003, the Supreme Court issued its decision upholding most of the provisions of the new federal campaign finance law that Congress enacted, among other purposes, to restrict the use of "soft money" in federal elections. The Court's decision followed the publication by the Federal Election Commission of scores of new rules and also "advisory opinions" clarifying and expanding upon the provisions of the new statute. With these developments, the Presidential and Congressional elections of 2004 will proceed under a host of new campaign fundraising, advertising and other restrictions.More Soft Money Hard Law provides a current account of the changes in the law, with special attention to the new rules of the Federal Election Commission and the impact of the Supreme Court decision. This is the followup edition of an earlier volume, Soft Money Hard Law, and it has been fully revised to reflect the new developments. New examples are provided to clarify the effect of particular provisionis, and a new and expanded Appendix includes the relevant Commission rules, along with excerpts from the Supreme Court decision.

The New Campaign Finance Sourcebook has been integrated with the award-winning and frequently visited Brookings website to provide a timely, interactive tool for policymakers, journalists, and scholars. Four of the country's leading experts on campaign finance reform have contributed original essays on important facets of finance law and administration. The essays are accompanied by a list of corresponding documents available on the website. The book offers a thorough overview and analysis of this highly controversial issue, including the history of campaign finance regulation and the current state of the law, current practices and trends in the flow of money, the constitutional debate, the use of political party money, issue advocacy, public financing of presidential elections, implementing and enforcing campaign finance laws, and campaigning on the internet. The authors conclude with a broad overview of alternative approaches to reform. The related website (www.brookings.edu/campaignfinance) features sidebars that correspond to the book's chapters as well as associated documents. The site is frequently updated with recent developments in campaign finance regulation and analyses of current court cases and administrative decisions. There are also links to advisory opinions from the Federal Elections Commission, nonprofit organizations that study reform, and related publications-.