[save_ferris]

It’s not just the size of the donation, the PAC system permits tremendous amounts of dark money whose donors aren’t disclosed.

Donating directly to politicians is fairly straightforward and transparent due to campaign finance law, but PACs operating “independently” and in the background undermine the system in a huge way

[ghobs91]

My point is that as long as donations of any kind are legal, politicians will continue to optimize for fundraising, rather than optimizing for policies that benefit the largest number of people. Who is most equipped to donate large sums to politicians? The wealthy.

[snowwrestler]

If donations are no longer legal, only the wealthy will have enough money to run for office. It would not have the democratizing effect you seem to think it would.

[save_ferris]

This just isn’t true, and this problem largely already exists in the US.

Many countries use publicly funded elections where all candidates get a set sum from the government to use towards a campaign. This would stop the billions flowing into races and ensure that all candidates have the same campaign budget.

Look at Texas, for example. The annual salary for a state legislator is pitiful (like $10k), which basically prevents anyone who isn’t independently wealthy from running from state office.