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Campaign Finance Reform Necessity One of the most treasured and respected notions of the American system of government is that it is by the people and for the people, and that it values every opinion and desire of the people it is responsible for. This is said to be accomplished by a representative democracy, where the elected person speaks for the entire group (Hastings 4). Therefore, it seems reasonable to assume that any eligible person should be able to run for, and win, an office in the American government with no unfair advantages given to one candidate over another. This ideal still exists today, but only in theory. Candidates with multi-million dollar checkbooks are able to crush competition that doesn’t have the resources of its opponent. This problem has existed for some time, and in 1974 lawmakers passed legislation limiting individuals to $1,000 donations per candidate for federal office and $20,000 a year to political parties in hard money (Sifry 27). Hard money is funding that can be spent directly on a federal campaign. In that legislation, however, there was no cap placed on soft money, or funds that can be made to the party for party-building activities only. These funds are unlimited and unregu