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Corporate Campaign Contributions

Corporate campaign contributions are monetary gifts made by corporations—usually, for-profit companies—to support the political campaigns to elect local, state, and federal officials. There has been a significant amount of controversy in recent years about whether corporations should be permitted to donate money to political campaigns in the same way as individual U.S. citizens and, if they may do so, what (if any) limits there should be on the amounts donated by corporations.

Jurisdiction and Regulation

In the United States, elections are held at the levels of local government, state government, and federal government. Different rules regarding campaign finance apply at each of these levels. Most elections are funded from private sources—contributions from individuals, corporations, political action committees, unions, and so forth—but in some cases, there are provisions ...

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