Teaching about Big Money in Elections: To Amend or Not to Amend the U.S. Constitution?

This article provides an overview of major campaign finance laws in the United States and then describes an engaging method for preparing students to discuss these laws and related issues. The authors suggest that educators first frame the issue by presenting background information about recent developments in campaign finance laws and innovative efforts to change them. After that, they recommend that educators introduce a guiding question about whether or not a constitutional amendment designed to limit political campaign contributions should be ratified. Students can then consider their own answers to this question by exploring a variety of pre-selected documents (listed in the article, with a link where they can be accessed) and participating in a structured academic controversy discussion. The article also describes methods of guiding and assessing students' learning during these experiences.