Undisclosed: The Attack on Campaign Finance Disclosure

The longstanding constitutionality of disclosure in campaign finance law is changing under the guise of an increasingly polarized political climate. Conservatives used to advocate for the use of disclosure as a more democratic alternative to campaign finance regulation. Now the practice is under fire by conservative legal thinkers, legislators, and bureaucrats alike. This is part of a broader process under which constitutional understandings change. This paper explains this phenomenon within the context of the conservative legal movement by investigating the constitutional politics, legal networks, and legal arguments undergirding this transition.