Final answer:
Super PACs are required to operate independently from political candidates and campaigns, which allows them to raise and spend unlimited funds without direct coordination. This was established by the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling, leading to significant controversy over the influence of vast sums of money and dark money in U.S. elections. Campaign finance reform efforts like the McCain-Feingold Act have sought to address these concerns but have not entirely curtailed issues related to negative advertising and the influence of wealthy donors.
Step-by-step explanation:
The requirement that super PACs work independently of political candidates and campaigns means that while super PACs can raise and spend unlimited funds, they cannot coordinate their actions or strategies with the candidates they support or oppose. This is to ensure a degree of separation between the capital raised and spent by these committees and the candidates themselves, aiming to prevent undue influence or the appearance of corruption. However, the independent nature of super PACs is under scrutiny by critics who argue that, despite the legal constraints, there are still indirect ways in which super PACs and candidates may influence each other, contributing to the disproportionate impact of wealthy donors and so-called dark money in elections.
Following the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling in 2010, super PACs emerged as a powerful force in American politics. The ruling established that spending money on political advocacy was a form of protected speech under the First Amendment, and as such, corporations and unions could spend unlimited amounts on behalf of candidates, albeit without direct coordination. The spread of super PACs significantly influenced subsequent elections, including the vast sums spent in the 2020 elections, highlighting the evolving dynamics of campaign finance and raising questions about the current and future state of electoral integrity and democratic participation.
Moreover, these developments came after earlier attempts at campaign finance reform, such as the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (McCain-Feingold Act), which had already tried to address concerns regarding the influence of money on politics. The act included provisions like requiring candidates to endorse their own advertisements, which has not entirely mitigated the negative advertising often associated with super PAC expenditures.