What limits should the government be allowed to impose on people who want to give money to a political campaign, or spend money in support of a campaign? The question is complex, difficult, and very important. Limits on the way money can be used to support candidates can undermine democracy - but so can the lack of limits.

For the last forty years, the Supreme Court’s decisions in this area have helped produce some controversial things: PACs, Super-PACs, corporate contributions, soft money, and the rest. Suppose we could sweep those decisions aside and start again. What would an ideal system of campaign finance regulation look like?