Corruption, Corrosion, and Corporate Political Speech

I. Introduction II. Direct Democracy in America ... A. Direct Democracy Defined ... B. History of Direct Democracy III. The Rise of Corporate Speech ... A. Commercial Speech ... B. Political Speech ... 1. Buckley v. Valeo ... 2. First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti ... 3. Consolidated Edison v. Public Service Commission ... 4. Citizens Against Rent Control v. City of Berkeley IV. The Decline of Corporate Political Speech ... A. FEC v. National Right to Work Committee ... B. FEC v. National Conservative Political Action Committee ... C. Pacific Gas & Electric Co. v. Public Utilities Commission ... D. FEC v. Massachusetts Citizens for Life ... E. Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce V. Are Corporations Persons ? ... A. Artificial Entity Theory ... B. Association Theory ... C. Person Theory ... D. Corporate Speech and Theories of Corporate Personality VI. Does Corporate Political Speech Violate the Rights of Dissenting Shareholders? VII. Does Corporate Spending Result in Undue Influence in Ballot Issue Campaigns? VIII. Evaluation and Conclusion ... A. Proposed Solutions ... 1. Deny all free speech rights to corporations ... 2. Deny political speech rights to business corporations ... 3. Provide public financing for ballot issue questions ... 4. Expand the fairness doctrine ... 5. Require shareholder consent to corporate political spending ... 6. Enact financial disclosure laws ... 7. Require government-produced voter information pamphlets ... 8. Enact contribution and expenditure limits IX . Conclusio