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RESEARCH
McConnell v. Federal Election Commission: Ideology Trumps Reality, Pragmatism
June 2004
Category: Jurisprudence & Litigation
Election Law Journal, Volume 3, Number 2, 2004
In this essay, Smith tries to analyze the doctrinal strengths and weaknesses of the McConnell decision. Instead of discussing the full contours of the opinion, he makes two points about the majority opinion which run counter to how it has been widely characterized. He hopes that calling attention to these points now will assist others in more detailed analysis. He also makes a few general predictions about the practical effects of the decision, which may also be useful as we look to see how the law works in practice.
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