11 Do Public Funding Programs Enhance Electoral Competition?

Advocates of public funding offer four main arguments about the consequences of taxpayer-financed elections.1 First, public funding can help potential candidates overcome the barriers that might deter them from run-ning. In a vicious cycle, potential candidates who lack the ability to raise cam-paign funds are not taken seriously, and candidates who are not taken seri-ously cannot raise campaign funds. The cost of a campaign, even at the state legislative level, prevents potentially qualified candidates from even entering. A system of public grants can give candidates the seed money necessary to launch broader fundraising efforts, or even provide them all the resources they need to run credible campaigns. By reducing the campaign funding bar-rier, public funding systems might encourage candidates to emerge. Grants can be especially crucial for challengers, who face particularly daunting prospects in taking on an incumbent. A corollary advantage to public financing is that it can encourage the emergence of candidates who lack substantial personal resources. Becaus