A Supreme Court Decision That Might Improve Politics
This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here.No sooner had the Supreme Court issued its opinion in a big campaign-finance case yesterday than my inbox began filling up with nongovernmental organizations and Democratic leaders decrying the ruling.In the case, National Republican Senatorial Committee v. Federal Election Commission, the justices struck down a law limiting the amount of money that political parties can use for coordinated spending on candidates. On first glance, the ruling is yet another in a string of cases in which the Court’s conservative majority has overturned laws that try to regulate the flow of money in politics, citing the right to free speech.“Today’s ruling is a win for billionaire donors and special interests who want more influence over the GOP agenda and an invitation for corruption,” the leaders of the Democratic National Committee, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee thundered in a statement. Michael Waldman, head of the left-leaning Brennan Center for Justice, took a similar line: “Today’s campaign finance ruling is part of the Roberts Court’s 16-year drive to destroy anti-corruption laws.” The Elias Law Group, a top Democratic law firm, said that the decision “needlessly overturns its own precedent to destroy a long-standing pillar of federal campaign finance law.”The bleakest predictions about the decision may yet come true—contemporary American politics seldom disappoints pessimists—but I think another interpretation is more likely. NRSC will help empower the political parties, reduce the appeal of super PACs, and potentially even improve transparency, all of which are positive changes. The conservative majority may have unintentionally stumbled into a good result for election law, at least within the bounds of the deeply broken st