Why We Need Public Financing of Campaigns
Testimony of Marc Stier City Council Committee of the Whole Hearingon the Public Financing of Political Campaigns April 26, 2006 President Verna, Members of Council, I want to first thank Councilmembers Verna and Tasco for introducing the resolution that created this hearing on a subject very important to the future of Philadelphia. And I also thank you for the opportunity to testify today. I am speaking today in part as a political activist and one-time political candidate but more so as a political scientist who has studied and written about the theory and practice of democracy for thirty years. (You will thus excuse me if I write at a little longer length—as it is an occupational hazard of being an academic.) I will testify today about why I think it would be desirable for Philadelphia to adopt some system of public financing of election campaigns. At a future hearing, I… Continue reading